
Class., 
Book 



,lJ:,;:;i I v' 



f 



llfc„ , ,,iffl 



ftp 






m § 




PERUVIAN 



ANTIQUITIES. 



MARIANO EDWARl/ RIVBEav Ti^W*~i^ 

DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, LIMA, AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF 
VARIOUS SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES IN EUROPE AND AMERICA : 



JOHN JAMES YON TSCHUDI, 

DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY, MEDICINE, AND SURGERY, ETC., ETC., AND MEMBER OF 

VARIOUS SOCIETIES OF MEDICINE, NATURAL HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, 

AND AGRICULTURE. 



TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH, FROM THE ORDINAL SPANISH, 



FRANCIS L. HAWKS, D.D., LL. D. 




NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY A. S. BARNES "& COMPANY, 

No. 51 JOHN-STREET. 

CINCINNATI:— H. W. DERBY. 

185$, 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in th« year 1854, by 

A. S. BAENES &CO., 

bi the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York. 






DEDICATION. 



TO 

THE SOVEREIGN CONGRESS 

OF PEKU. 

Centuries have passed without the possession by Peru 
of a collection of such of her ancient architectural monu- 
ments, as have escaped the ravages of time, avarice, and 
superstition. These silent, yet eloquent, witnesses reveal the 
history of past successes, and demonstrate the intelligence, 
power, and grandeur of the nation once ruled by our Incas. 

To us has fallen the honor of being the first to present 
them in this work (the fruit of some years' labor), though not 
as extensively and perfectly as we have desired ; and to 
dedicate it to the national sovereignty, in the hope that it 
will be deemed worthy of a kind reception. 

Will your Honorable Body accept this slight tribute of 
our diligence, and the^ respectful consideration of 
Your faithful and obedient servants, 

Mariano Eduardo de Rivero. 
Dr. John James Yon Tschudi, 



(5) 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE, 

BY THE TRANSLATOR. 

In" the prosecution of researches made in the preparation 
of a work on the antiquities of America generally, it became 
necessary to examine the book of which a translation is here 
presented to the reader. On its perusal, it was found to 
contain, with much that has already been placed in the hands 
of the English reader, by Mr. Prescott, in his History of the 
Conquest of Peru, much also that did not fall within the 
design of his admirable work, and is not generally accessible 
in our language. The book possessed also additional interest 
from the fact that it was, in part at least, the production of 
a native Peruvian of Spanish origin, who, it is believed, had 
no native predecessor in any similar work but Garcilasso de 
la Vega, who published the first part of his Commentaries in 
1609, and finished the latter in 1616. We have then here 
the last account of Peru by a native, at a date as late as 
1851 ; and a more particular description of its most an- 
cient architectural remains than is to be found elsewhere. 
These circumstances led the translator to think that the book 
would possess an interest for his countrymen, and induced 
him to devote such leisure as he could snatch from more 
serious employments to the task of clothing the original in 
an English dress. 



PREFACE. 



The history of nations, or of the times in which they 
flourished, does not interest,, simply by showing the degree 
of power and culture to which they attained, and the means 
by which they were able to subjugate or aggrandize those 
who were ruled ; but also, by instructing us in the progres- 
sive steps of commerce, arts,, and sciences; those mighty 
agents which enlarge the understanding, develop the riches 
of nature, remove obstacles, and prepare a people for the 
enjoyment of rational liberty. 

The code which governed the ancient Peruvian nation, 
dictated by its founder, Manco-Capac, and amplified by his 
successors, laid the foundations of that public happiness, of 
which for some centuries his descendants have been deprived : 
but it was not the basis of that political liberty which moves 
men, inspires great thoughts, diffuses light, and enlarges the 
limits of human knowledge. 

Its theocratical government took care that the worship of 
the divinity which they adored, throughout the entire king- 
dom, should not languish ; it was a means which, as in all 
the most enlightened monarchies of the old world, was called 
in, to give security to political power ; — that publio morality 
should not be relaxed by the toleration of disorder ; — that 
agriculture and industry should be advanced : — that public 
works should be constructed and preserved : — and finally, 

1* (9) 



that no one should be without occupation, and useless alike 
to the State and his fellow-men. Kings and priests at the 
same time, the sovereigns ruled, in the name of the Sun, with 
an absolute independence ; but were not, on this account, 
placed above the laws of justice and humanity. 

To study, therefore, institutions so beneficent, on the very 
spot where they existed ; to examine their archaeological 
monuments ; to obtain an exact knowledge of their idiom, 
religion, laws, sciences and customs, as well as all that relates 
to the empire of the Andes, was the plan which we proposed 
to pursue, by traversing the land of the Incas. 

There were many obstacles opposed to the successful 
accomplishment of our enterprise. 1. The political dissen- 
sions which have succeeded each other, keeping the country 
in constant alarm. 2. The diversities of climate, the bad, 
and indeed impassable roads of the coast and the Cordilleras, 
the dangers to be encountered and overcome, in visiting long 
abandoned sites, the close, thick forests, in which nature 
with such prodigality shows her profusion and fertilizing 
power, presenting trees which almost seem to serve as props 
to the vault of heaven. 3. The total want of an itinerary, 
or of well-informed guides who might indicate to us localities 
or antiquities worthy of observation : — but nothing could 
prevent us from prosecuting our design of presenting to the 
public a work on the antiquities of Peru. 

In 1841, speaking of this subject, we said : "We hope some 
day to have the satisfaction of communicating to our coun- 
trymen that the collection is complete and published, which, 
in our view, is a work of some importance." An aspiration 
whic , after ten years, has been realized, but not without 
immense labor and great pecuniary sacrifices. 

During some years we have studied ancient monuments, 
gathering, with great solicitude, all the curiosities of the 



PREFACE. xl 

cimes of the Incas which we could collect, and giving orders 
for the designing and painting of all those which were in the 
possession of individuals, whether Peruvians or foreigners. 
Having finished this toilsome work, we sought, of the Peru- 
vian government, aid to publish it : not being able alone to 
undertake an enterprise so expensive. The sum which was 
granted us was so small that it did not suffice even to make 
copies of some of the plates, and consequently the manuscript 
remained in its case until 1850. 

Determined that, even at the cost of some sacrifices, Peru 
and other nations should not be deprived of the collection 
we had made, which gives, to the first named at least, an 
accurate idea of the power of its monarchs and the industry 
of its subjects, we wrote to Don Francisco de Eivero, charge 
d'affaires from the Peruvian Eepublic near the court of her 
Britannic Majesty, that it should be published on an agree- 
ment made with Dr. Yon Tschudi. How great were those 
pecuniary sacrifices, the reader may easily determine by a 
glance at the beautiful volume of plates which accompanies 
the text.* 

After the preparation of the plates had been commenced 
by one of the most distinguished artists of Vienna, we were 
informed that he could not proceed with the impression, 
because of the increased price both of paper and labor, aris- 
ing from the political troubles of the past year, which had 
produced a great reaction in all the kingdoms of Europe. 



* An atlas of fifty-eight large plates, most of them colored, and all 
beautifully executed, accompanies the original work. From this, our 
illustrations have been taken, in a sufficient number, we hope, to make 
plain the text when the aid of the pencil is required. To have copied all, 
would have made our English version as costly as the original, and placed 
it beyond the reach of most readers. — [Translator.] 



New disbursements had therefore to be made for the con- 
tinuance of the work. 

At all times, the government, which has watched with 
interest the progress of everything having for its laudable 
object the instruction of the masses, and the procuring of 
exact particulars concerning our history, commerce, arts or 
industry, has protected and fostered enterprises tending to 
these results. The larger number of administrations in th? 
republic of Peru, having among them distinguished men, 
have been animated by proper sentiments and desires ; and 
so much the more, as it was seen that the republic of Chili 
had ordered the publication of its natural and political history, 
by the indefatigable Mr. Gay ; and that Bolivia had favored, 
to the extent of her ability, the interesting works of the 
naturalist, D'Orbigny ; but these feelings and wishes of our 
successive administrations have been lamentably unproduc- 
tive, because of the anarchy which has prevailed in the 
country for so many years. Without doubt, a beginning has 
now been made to supply in part the want above alluded to. 

Dr. Yon Tschudi, a member of various scientific bodies, 
and a distinguished European traveller, published in 1846 
and 1848 his investigations in the Peruvian Fauna ; a work 
in folio, of seven hundred pages, and of seventy-two illustra- 
tive plates, which treats of the quadrupeds, birds, reptiles 
and fishes of Peru, as well as of other topics (antiquities 
philology and medicine), being very valuable on the subject 
of the primitive races of South America. Mr. Prescott, too, 
with his accustomed masterly skill, has given us a history of 
the conquest, with documents and interesting details. 

It is gratifying to us to record the interest which Don 
Manuel Ferreyros and Don Francisco de Rivero have shown 
in the publication of this work ; the generosity with which 
Messrs. Weddel, Rugendas, and Pentlandt have freely fur- 



nished sketches and designs, and the care of Dr. Yon Tschudi 
in the arrangement of the text which was sent to him from 
Peru, adding thereto observations on the Peruvian crania, 
Quichuan language, religion, &c, which were suggested by 
his own knowledge, his extensive learning, and the abundant 
books and manuscripts of the imperial library of Vienna, 
which he could freely consult — elements, alas ! wanting in 
Peru. 

It was not our sole object to give a description of the 
rains of sumptuous edifices, the sad remains of the grandeur 
and power of the Incas, of their idols, and manufactures 
found in the huacas and mounds; but also of the fall of a 
nation made deeply interesting by its tragical history. 

The description of its political institutions, its religious 
system, of its ceremonies, the arts and sciences cultivated by 
the Peruvians, may offer to investigators aid in their labors, 
by dispelling errors which are found at every step in the 
writings of authors, ancient and modern, who have trans- 
mitted to us the verbal relations of individuals whom they 
considered well informed. 

We are not of the number of those blind admirers of the 
ancient Peruvian culture who have exaggerated the political 
institutions of the Incas, and the progress which their subjects 
had made in the arts and sciences ; but as little are we to be 
classed with those historians who deny the development of 
the faculties in the primitive inhabitants of Peru, and con- 
sider the narratives of the old Spanish chroniclers on this 
point as mere fables. 

A conscientious comparison of these narratives with the 
remains of Peruvian antiquity, and the deductions thence 
made, form the basis of this work. We know full well that 
we are not here offering to the public a work which exhausts 
the rich material in which we have labored. The difficulty 



XIV PKEFACE. 

of these investigations, the want of true translations of the 
quippus in which were preserved the remarkable events of 
Peruvian history and the particulars of its statistics, and the 
immense expense which works of this kind involve, can only 
be overcome by the joint labors of the learned, and the 
powerful aid of the government. "We will not doubt (to 
recur to our work) that the Peruvian nation will appreciate 
our humble toils and our pecuniary sacrifices ; and that they 
will know how to excuse some slight typographical imper- 
fections, the unavoidable consequence of printing the book 
in a city where the Spanish language is a foreign tongue.* 

* The original was printed in Vienna, for the sake, we presume, of Dr. 
Von Tschudi's supervision. — [Translator.] 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO HEMISPHEKES, PRIOR TO THE DISCOVERT BY 
COLUMBUS. 

PAGB 

Expedition of Bjarne Herjulfson to America, 3 

Expedition of Leif Erikson, 4 

" of Thorwald Erikson, 4 

" of Thorstein Erikson, 4 

" of Thorfinn Karlsefne and Snorri Thorbrandson, . . 4 

" of Helge and Finneboge, 5 

Arc Marson in Hnitramannaland, 5 

History of Bjorn Asbrandson, 6 

Voyage of Gudleif Gudlangson . . 7 

Hypothesis of Rabbi Manasseh Ben Israel, ..... 8 

Proofs of a Jewish immigration to America, ...... 9 

Hebrew words in the American languages, . . • • . 10 

Hypothesis of Don Pablo Felix de Cabrera, H 

Document of Votan, 12 

Explanation of the document by Cabrera, . . . . , .13 

Hypothesis of M. de Guignes, 16 

Investigations of M. de Paravey, jg 

Analogies in religions of Buddha and Mexico, .... 17 

The Peruvian Trimurti, 18 

Analogies in Christianity and Buddhism, 19 

Mexican priesthood, 20 

(sv) 



XVI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER II. 

ANCIENT EraABITANTS OF PERU. 

Conformation of Peruvian crania, 26 

First form, ..... . .26 

Second form, . 27 

Third form, 27 

Proportions of the crania, 28 

Geographical distribution of the different races, 31 

Configuration of the crania of the present Indians, .... 34 

Proof that the form is not the result of mechanica^ pressure, . . 36 

Osteological anomaly in the Peruvian crania, . ... 38 

Note on the Peruvian crania in Dr. Morton's work, .... 40 

CHAPTER III. 

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE HISTORY OP PERU, BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE 
SPANIARDS. 

Origin of the Peruvian monarchy from Garcilasso, .... 42 

Biographical notice of Garcilasso de la Vega, 45 

The sources from which he drew as an author, 47 

His partiality, 47 

Catalogue of Peruvian monarchs, 49 

Descendants of the Incas according to the canon Sahuaura, ... 50 

"Works of the licentiate Fernando Montesinos, 51 

Chronological table of Peruvian Kings, by Montesinos, . . . .52 

Critique on the memoirs of Montesinos, 65 

History of the conquest of Peru, by Prescott, . . 66 

Considerations on the first Inca, 67 

Fables as to the origin of the Incas, ...... 68 

Extent of the empire under Huayna-Capac, . . . . . 69 

Its population, . .69 

Diminution of population, ... ..... 70 

CHAPTER IV. 

SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT, OR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS OF THE INCAS. 

Authority of the Peruvian monarchs, 74 

Form of government, ........ 75 



CONTENTS. XV11 

Veneration of the Monarchs by their subjects, 75 

Concubines of the Inca, 76 

Titles of the royal family, 77 

Court of the Sovereign, ......... 77 

The Peruvian aristocracy, 78 

Education of the blood royal, . 79 

The name of Peru, 80 

Division of the Provinces and population, ..... 80 

Administrative organization, . . . . . . . . .81 

Peruvian agriculture, 82 

The order in -which they worked the earth, . . . . .. .82 

The tribute and mode of collecting it, ...... 84 

Laws of polity, . . . . . . . . . . .85 

Civil laws, 87 

Military system of the Incas, . . . . . . . . 88— - 

Policy of Incas toward conquered provinces, 88 

CHAPTER V. 

THE QUICHUAtf LANGUAGE. 

The American languages, 92 

Influence of foreign immigrations on the languages of the American aborigines, 93 
Analogy of American words with those of the eastern continent, . . 94 

Number of the American languages, 96 

Differences between neighboring idioms, 97 

Common characteristics of all the American languages, . . . 98 

The conjugation of the personal object, or transition, .... 99 

Particular use of the pronouns, 100 

Composition of words by means of an aflSx, 101 

Hieroglyphics among the American nations, 103 

Chronological list of Quichua grammars, 104 

Writing of the ancient Peruvians, 105 

Hieroglyphics, 106 

Quippos, 109 

Specimens of Quichua literature, 112 

The Lord's Prayer in Quichua, 113. 

Specimen of a sermon by Don Fernando de Avendano, . . . .114 

The Peruvian poets or Haravicus, 115 

The Haravis, 115 

Dramatic poetry, 115 



XV111 CONTENTS. 

Specimens of the drama Ollanta, 116 

Dialects of the Quichua language, . . . . . . . 117 

CHAPTER VI. 

SCIENTIFIC CULTURE UNDER THE DYNASTY OF THE INCAS. 

The amautas or sages, 125 

Peruvian medical knowledge, 126 

Practice of surgery, . 126 

Mathematics and astronomy, 126 

The Peruvian year, 130 

The months, 131 

Navigation, 135 

Three haravis, 137 

Instrumental music, 143 

Species of Pandean pipe, ......... 143 

Tunes of their songs, 145 

Dramatic representations, , 145 

Music, 145 

CHAPTER VII. 

REL5GIOUS SYSTEM OF THE INCAS. 

Primitive worship of the Peruvians, 146 

Con, 147 

Pachacamac, 152 

The worship of Pachacamac, 153 

Policy of the Incas with reference to this worship, . . . .154 

Sayings of the Incas as to worship of the Sun, 155 

Deities of the ancient Peruvians, 156 

The Sun, 157 

Virgins of the Sun, ... 158 

Selected Virgins, 158 

The Moon, 160 

The Stars, 161 

Deities of the Elements, . 161 

Terrestrial deities, . . . , . , , . , . 161 

Historical deities, ........... 163 

Viracocha, • 163 



CONTENTS. XIX 

The Incas, 164 

The Huacas, 168 

The worship of the Sun, 157 

The gods of families, or individuals, 171 

The Conopas, 172 

Mode of examining wizards prescribed by Archbishop Villa Gomez, . 174 

Divination by external objects, 176 

Analogy of Peruvian ceremonies with Christian sacraments, . . 179 

Baptism, 180 

Confirmation, 181 

Penance, 181 

The Eucharist, 182 

Extreme unction, 182 

Holy orders, 182 

Matrimony, 184 

CHAPTER VIII. 

RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 

The festival, Raymi, 187 

Sacrifices, • 189 

The Mosoc Nina, . 190 

The festival, Situa, 190 

The driving out of infirmities, 192 

The festival, Cusquie Eaymi, 192 

The festival of knighthood, or Huaracu, . . . . . . 192 

The other festivals, 193 

Offerings presented to the Gods, 194 

Human sacrifices, 195 

Sacrifices of animals, 197 

" of vegetables, 198 

" of minerals, 198 

Mode of burying the dead, 199 

The kings, 200 

Rich vassals, . 200 

The common people, 201 

Provisions buried with the dead, 202 

Different kinds of corn, ......... 202 

Mode of enveloping the body, ........ 203 

The art of embalming, ........ . 204 



XX CONTENTS. 

Refutation of the opinion of Barreda on this subject, .... 205 

Natural mummification, 207 

CHAPTER IX. 

STATE OF THE ARTS AMONG THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS. 

Importance of a critical examination of ancient monuments, . .210 

The art of cutting stone, 212 

Weapons, 212 

Knowledge of metallurgy among the ancient Peruvians, . . . 213 
Quantity of silver and gold exported by the Spaniards, . . .213 

Gold, . .214 

Silver, 215 

Copper, 215 

Quicksilver, 215 

Cinnabar, 216 

Artistic use of the metals, 216 

Plating, 217 

Gilding, 217 

Plated works, 218 

Riches of palaces, temples and gardens of gold, 218 

Manufactures of copper, 222 

The art of spinning and weaving, 223 

Tanning, 224 

The Peruvian Potters, .- . .225 

The principles of moulding, 226 

Peruvian modelling, 226 

Vases and Conopas, 227 

Sacred vessels with designs, " .228 

The art of painting, 228 

Peruvian architecture, 229 

Stone hewing, 230 

Stones of the fortification of Ollantay-Tambo, 231 

Size of the stones at Tiahuahaco, 232 

Mode of transporting the stones, 232 

Mortar, . . . . . v 232 

Particular houses, ...'.• 233 

The Tambos, . . . '.'.; 235 

The Royal Storehouses, •; . . . . , . . 235 

The play-houses, . . • -■',» • • • • . . 236 



CONTENTS. XXI 

The Baths, 236 

The Royal palaces, 237 

The monasteries, 240 

The Temples, 241 

The Fortifications, 246 

The Fortress of Cuzco, 246 

The small fortress of Huiehay, 249 

Hydraulics among the ancient Peruvians, 250 

The azequias or canals for irrigation, 251 

The Bridges, 251 

Opinion of Raynal on works of the ancient Peruvians, . . . 252 



CHAPTER X. 

ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 

The Royal roads, 254 - 

Description of them by Sarmiento, 255 

" by Ci§ea de Leon, 256 

" Zarrate, 258 

« Juan Botero Benes, 260 

" Juan de Velasco, 260 

" Humboldt, 261 

Extent of these rqads, 263 

Ruins of the palaces of Chimu, 264 

Antiquities found in these palaces, 266 

Ruins of Cuelap, 272 

" of Old Huanuco, 276 

Tower of Chupan, 280 

Ruins of fortifications, department of Lurin, 281 

Castle of Masor, 281 

Ruins of Chacabamba, 282 

Ancient edifice in Chavin de Huanta, 282 

Castle on the ridge of Posoc, 283 

Reflections on the destruction of the empire of the Incas, . . 284 

Ruins of Paramanca, 286 

Ruins of the i( coptras " about Chancaylla, 287 

Ruins of Pachacamac, 288 

Ruins about Huamanga and Vilcas, ....... 291 

Hills of Clustoni, 292 



XX11 CONTENTS. 

Ruins of Hatuncolla, 292 

Ruins of Tiahuanco, 293 

Gigantic head, 295 

Monolythic gateways, 296 

Ruins on the island of Titicaca, 297 

" on the island of Coati, 298 

" of Ollantay-Tambo, ....*... 298 

Traditions concerning Ollantay, 299 

Construction of the fortress, ' 300 

Remains of antiquity in the city of Cuzco, 302 

Conclusion, 304 



CHAPTEK I. 

OF THE RELATIONS EXISTING BETWEEN THE TWO HEMIS- 
PHERES, BEFORE THE DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS. 

Among all the sciences which are involved in the study of 
history, none exceeds in importance archeology, or the know- 
ledge of the monuments of antiquity ; a science which, 
drawn by the industrious and ingenious labor of modern 
times from its chrysalis state, or that period of infant weak- 
ness common to all sciences, has proceeded to tear away the 
veil which covered past ages, synthetically to reconstruct the 
events of remote periods, and to supply the scarcity or total 
absence of chronicle and tradition. Throughout the whole 
Western hemisphere, numerous works of art, like so many 
indelible pages, show to the observant traveller the genius, 
the occurrences, and the splendor of ancient America, with 
more truth and eloquence than all the worm-eaten manu- 
scripts which sleep in our archives ; so that, like shining 
torches, they conduct the philosophical historian through the 
darkness which involves the past centuries, in which were 
developed the first human associations of the New World. 

When, led by that intrepid and skilful navigator, Chris- 
topher Columbus, the Spaniards first trod the shores of a 
world, till then, to them unknown, they supposed that the 
vast regions they had found were inhabited by a race of un- 
cultivated savages only. Ere long, however, they were un- 
1 W 



2 PERU. 

deceived by further explorations, and became convinced that 
the nations which they had vanquished possessed a certain 
amount of cultivation, and of interesting memorials. 

In the ten years immediately succeeding the conquest, cer- 
tain zealous individuals, members for the most part of the re- 
ligious orders, devoted themselves to the work of describing 
the physical aspect of the newly discovered regions, of re- 
counting the acts of the Europeans in the New World, and 
of collecting the traditions and memorials of the subdued 
races ; endeavoring from these to ' write a methodical 
history, which should illustrate the principal occurrences of 
those vast regions which had yielded to the valor and skill of 
the people of the Eastern hemisphere. But this under- 
taking was very difficult, since the history had for its sole 
foundation the traditions of the conquered, confused, contra- 
dictory, often mixed with fables and myths, and at times 
wilfully perverted and falsified, so that it was not only dif- 
ficult, but in fact almost impossible to shed light on such a cha- 
os ; it is therefore not strange that but little fruit was gathered 
from the toilsome labors of men, however distinguished, who 
were necessarily lost in a labyrinth so dark and intricate. 
Modern effort, however, has been more fortunate ; and it has 
been the privilege of our age to have dissipated, in part, the 
darkness which shrouded the antiquity of the Western hem- 
isphere ; and (thanks to the persevering researches of the 
learned of our times) it now appears indisputably, that be- 
fore the coming of Columbus, there had been communication 
between the two hemispheres. 

" What were the relations between them; and what nations 
visited America in remote epoclis f" Such are the questions 
which naturally present themselves, and which we will en- 
deavor to answer with some particularity. 

It is supposed that various nations or stranger tribes have 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 3 

invaded the American continent ; and in support of this opin- 
ion, there have been alleged proofs founded, either on irre- 
futable historic dates, on inductions drawn from the religion, 
the monuments, the physical constitution, and the languages 
of the people of the New World, or on contemporaneous his- 
torical occurrences in the two hemispheres. 

In discussing these proofs, alike ingenious and learned, we 
will begin with the northeastern part of North America, 
which, of itself alone, offers one irrefutable proof. 

It is now some twelve years since the Secretary of the So- 
ciety of Antiquaries of Copenhagen, Mr. Charles Christian 
Eafn, described, according to Scandinavian manuscripts, pub- 
lished in the " Antiquitates Americance" the first voyages 
which the Scandinavians made to America in the tenth and 
eleventh centuries of our era : the accounts of these voyages 
were probably compiled in the twelfth century, by the learn- 
ed Bishop Thorlak Eunolfson, author of the most ancient 
ecclesiastical code of Iceland, and grandson of Thor- 
finn Karlsefne, who led one of the most considerable 
expeditions that sailed for the Western hemisphere. 
From these it appears that in the year 986, Bjarne 
Herjulfson, voyaging from Iceland to Greenland, 
sailed along the eastern coast of America. Stimulated 
by Bjarne's representations on his return, Leif, eldest 
son of Eric the Bed, purchased his ship, and in the 
year 1000, set out with thirty-five companions to make dis- 
coveries. Leif reached the coast which had been discov- 
ered by Bjarne, and named it Helluland (at this day New- 
foundland); sailing thence, he arrived on a mountainous 
coast which he called Marldand (now known as Nova Scotia, 
New Brunswick, and Canada) ; thence proceeding, he reached 
a very pleasant shore, when an individual of the expedition, 
a German, named Tyrker, found an abundance of good 



4 PERU. 

grapes ; and in consequence of that. Leif named the country 
Vinland (the land of the vine), a country which at this day 
corresponds to the coast between Cape Sable and Cape Cod. 
He then returned to Greenland, and in the following summer 
(1002) his brother, Thowald Ericson, undertook a new 
voyage in the same vessel : he visited the regions that had 
already been discovered by his brother, and penetrated fur- 
ther yet in the summer of 1004 ; and about Cape Cod (south- 
east of the present city of Boston) he had an encounter 
with the Skrellings (Esquimaux), in which, receiving an ar- 
row-wound under the arm, he died, and was buried at what 
is now known as Gurnefs Point, a place which he himself 
had pointed out for his burial, and which, at the request of 
the dying man, was called Krossanes (Point of the Cross). 
In the summer of 1006, Thorstein, the third son of Eric, 
undertook an expedition to the same regions ; his attempt 
was unfortunate, for he was not able to find even the coast, 
and overcome by his toils, he died in Greenland in the fol- 
lowing winter. In the year 1007, a flotilla of three barks, 
with crews amounting to a hundred and sixty men, and with 
a sufficiency of live stock, left the coast of Greenland, under 
the leadership of the celebrated Thorfinn Karlsefne and 
Snorre Thorbrandson ; leaving the usual track, and in- 
clining more to the south, they remained some time at the 
island of Martha's Vineyard, whence sailing westwardly, 
they spent two winters in Mount Hope Bay, near Seconnet, 
a degree and a half of latitude nearer towards New York. 

Unhappily, in the following winter, the good understand- 
ing which had subsisted between the Scandinavian adven- 
turers and the Esquimaux terminated ; the latter attacked 
them with a superior force, and would have exterminated 
them, had they not been delivered from entire destruction 
by the boldness of a woman named Freydis. This unpro- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 5 

pitious event induced Karlsefne to abandon the plan of 
founding a colony on those coasts, and to return to Green- 
land about the beginning of the year 1011. 

But still more mournful was the result of another expe- 
dition which two Norwegian brothers, Helge and Finne- 
boge, made in the same year. These, with thirty of their 
companions, perished at the hands of the husband of Frey- 
ms, prompted to the murder by this masculine woman, who 
had taken part in the enterprise with thirty -five Scandinavians. 

We have but few and scattered notices concerning any 
later communications between Greenland and the north- 
eastern coast of America. We find, however, that in the 
year 1121 the Greenland Bishop Erick passed over to Yin- 
land; but we know nothing with certainty as to the time he 
remained there, and as little concerning the state of any colo- 
nies there, either as to extent, or the degree of progress. 
This,- however, is certain, that the monuments, inscrip- 
tions, arms, utensils, tools, and remains of the dead, re- 
cently found in the States of Ehode Island, Massachusetts 
and elsewhere, attest an entrance of strangers into the 
country, much more considerable than any of those which 
the manuscripts we have mentioned bring to our knowl- 
edge. 

Greater attention, in our opinion, is due to the notices con- 
tained in the documents communicated by Eafn, which make 
mention of a nation that, according to the traditions of the 
Esquimaux, dwelt in their neighborhood, wore white vest- 
ments, uttered cries, and made use of long rods with pieces 
of cloth attached to them. According to a probable conjec- 
ture, the country occupied by this nation was Huitraman- 
NALAND, (the country of white men,) which lay along 
Chesapeake Bay, extending down into Carolina, and even 
still further towards the south. The story is, that a violent 



6 PERU. 

storm in 983 cast upon these shores the renowned Captain 
Are Marson, of Keykjanes, in Iceland ; whose grandson, 
the learned and celebrated Icelander, Are Frode, certifies 
that certain Irishmen had assured his uncle that, according 
to the verbal relation of Jarl Thorfinn Sigurdson, of the 
Orkneys, the name of Are Marson was known in Huitra- 
mannaland ; that this intrepid adventurer there had authority, 
but that the natives would not permit him to return to his 
country. The more probable opinion is, that a Catholic 
population had cultivated these vast regions ; it may be so 
inferred from the circumstances of men clothed in white, of 
the cries which they uttered, and of the long rods with pieces 
of cloth attached, as preserved in the traditions of the Esqui- 
maux, and which correspond to a sacerdotal procession with 
hymns and standards or banners of a Catholic community. 
The testimony of Jarl Thorfinn Sigurdson, which confirms 
the presence of Are Marson in Huitramann aland, shows a 
communication, though at a later period, between Ireland 
and the northeastern part of North America. 

In the same manuscripts there is found another relation 
which converts the above-mentioned conjecture into certainty. 
Bioern Asbrandson, who bore the surname of Breidvikinga- 
kappi, a companion of the celebrated league of the heroes of 
Jomberg, and one of the most fearless champions in the bat- 
tle of Fyrisvalle, in Sweden, had an amour with Thurid, 
sister of the powerful chief Snorre Gode, in Fordau, of 
Iceland, by reason of which he was obliged to emigrate in the 
year 999, embarking at Hraunhofen in Snafellsnes. Driven 
by a northeast wind, the vessel quickly left the coast, and for 
a long time there were no tidings of the fate of Bioern, who, 
his acquaintance finally supposed, was buried in the depths 
of the sea. At length it happened that an Icelandic mer- 
chant named Gudleif Gudlangson, a brother of Thorfinn, 



PERUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 7 

the ancestor of the distinguished historian Snorre Sturlu- 
SON, desired to return from Dublin to Iceland, taking the 
route on the west of Ireland ; but violent hurricanes pro- 
ceeding from the northeast, drove him to the west, and 
afterwards to the southwest, carrying him, after a long and 
dangerous voyage, to an unknown coast, the natives of which 
seized him as soon as he had landed. In a short time a troop 
of men came to him, preceded by a standard, and speaking 
a language resembling that of Ireland ; they were directed 
by an old man on horseback, of noble and imposing aspect, 
to whom it belonged to decide on the fate of the prisoners. 
He commanded that Gudleif should be brought into his 
presence, and asked him, in the Scandinavian language, who 
he was and whence he came ; and discovering Gudleif to be 
a native of Iceland, the old man informed him that he him- 
self was Bioern Astrandson, the lover of Thurid, and of the 
same place as she and his son Kiartan. Afterwards he set 
Gudleif and his companions at liberty, advising them to 
leave, as soon as possible, a country of so little hospitality ; 
and, at their departure, he gave to him a ring for Thurid, 
and a sword for his son Kiartan. Gudleif returned to Dub- 
lin, and thence, in the following summer, to Iceland, where 
he delivered the presents, convincing all that Bioern As- 
brandson had sent them. 

This genuine story, written a little after the events, is in 
our view an important proof in favor of the opinion that 
Irish colonies were established in Huitramannalancl, the 
present Carolinas, and probably also in Florida ; and that 
the immigration of these colonies took place long before the 
first navigation of the Scandinavians to the New World, as 
we are enabled to fix it with certainty in the ninth century 
of our era. 

Various other hypotheses have been presented relative to 



8 PEKU. 

the peopling of the regions of America by Western nations, 
before the discovery of Columbus ; hypotheses which, if they 
do not offer a degree of probability as great as that presented 
in the one given above, still rest on reasons more or less 
ingenious, and foundations more or less solid. Among others 
there is one meriting particular notice : it is that which 
attributes the origin of the American races to the tribes 
which composed the ancient kingdom of Israel ; that is, to 
the nine and a half tribes conquered and carried captive from 
Samaria, while there still remained in the kingdom of Judah, 
and in the cities on the opposite shores of the Jordan, the 
tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and the half tribe of Manasseh. 

The learned Eabbi, Manasseh Ben Israel, in his cele- 
brated work " The Hope of Israel" (published in Amsterdam 
in 1650,) was the first who treated this subject, at the re- 
quest of Montesini, who had travelled in South America, and 
recognized there, in his Indian guide, an Israelite, who assured 
him that there lived in the Cordilleras a considerable number 
of Indians of the same origin with himself. Although the 
historical events alleged by Manasseh Ben Israel are less 
numerous than those of his successors, still, the proofs which 
they offer are plausible and not wanting in acuteness ; and 
it is a singular fact that Gregorio Garcia, an ancient 
author, in his interesting work, " The Origin of the Indians." 
makes mention of a Spanish tradition, according to which 
the Americans proceeded from the nine and a half tribes of 
Israel, whom Salmanezer, King of Assyria, carried away 
captive. 

Passing by the proofs, more or less ingenious, advanced 
by Heckewelder, Beltrami, De Laet,* Emanuel de Moraez, 
Beatty, Samuel Stanhope Smith, f William Penn, the Count 

* Orbis Novus, sen Descriptio Indise Occidentalis. 
t On the Varieties of the Human Species. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 9 

Crawford, and many others, we will make particular men- 
tion of Adair,* who lived forty years among the Indians, 
and who, after the most thorough examination and minute 
comparison, assures us that the origin of the Indians is 
Israel itish, founding his assertion principally on the religious 
rites, which plainly present many points of agreement with 
those of the Hebrew people. 

Like the Jews, the Indians offer their first-fruits, they 
keep their new moons, and the feast of expiations at the end 
of September or in the beginning of October ; they divide 
the year into four seasons, corresponding with the Jewish 
festivals. According to Charlevoix and Long, the brother 
of a deceased husband receives his widow into his house as a 
guest, and after a suitable time considers her as a legitimate 
consort. In some parts of North America circumcision is 
practised, and of this Acosta and Lopez de Gomara make 
mention. There is also much analogy between the Hebrews 
and Indians in that which concerns various rites and cus- 
toms ; such as the ceremonies of purification, the use of the 
bath, the ointment of bear's grease, fasting, and the manner 
of prayer. The Indians likewise abstain from the blood of 
animals, as also from fish without scales ; they consider 
divers quadrupeds unclean, as also certain birds and reptiles, 
and they are accustomed to offer as an holocaust the first- 
lings of the flock. Acosta and Emanuel de Moraez relate 
that various nations allow matrimony with those only 
of their own tribe or lineage, this being, in their view, a 
striking characteristic, very remarkable, and of much weight. 
But that which most tends to fortify the opinion as to the 
Hebrew origin of the American tribes, is a species of ark, 
seemingly like that of the Old Testament; this the Indians 

* History of the American Nations, pp. 15-212. 
1* 



10 PERU. 

take with them to war; it is never permitted to touch the 
ground, but rests upon stones or pieces of wood, it being 
deemed sacrilegious and unlawful to open it or look into it. 
The American priests scrupulously guard their sanctuary, 
and the High Priest carries on his breast a white shell 
adorned with precious stones, which recalls the Urim of the 
Jewish High Priest : of whom we are also reminded by a 
band of white plumes on his forehead. 

According to the credible testimony of Adair, the Indians 
of North America celebrate the feast of first-fruits with re- 
ligious dances, singing in chorus these mystic words : — Yo 
Meschica, He Meschica, Va Meschica, forming thus, with 
the three first syllables, the name of Je-ho-vah, and the name 
of Messiah thrice pronounced, following each initial. On 
other occasions may be heard in their hymns the words, 
Aylo, Aylo, which correspond with the Hebrew word Ul, 
God ; in other hymns occur the words, hiwah, Mwah, — hyd- 
chyra, " the immortal soul," and Schiluhyo, Schiluhe, Scliiluh- 
va : of which Adair thinks that Schiluh is the same with the 
Hebrew word Schaleach, or /Schiloth, which signifies messen- 
ger, or pacificator. The use of Hebrew words was not un- 
common in the religious performances of the North Ameri- 
can Indians, and Adair assures us that they called an accused 
or guilty person hahsit canaha, " a sinner of Canaan ;" and to 
him who was inattentive to religious worship, they said, 
Tschi hahsit canaha, " you resemble a sinner of Canaan." 
Lescarbot also tells us that he had heard the Indians of South 
America sing " Alleluia." 

Those authors who attribute a Hebrew origin to the Ameri- 
can tribes do not agree among themselves touching the com- 
ing of the Israelites into the New World : some think that 
they came directly from the Eastern hemisphere to the West, 
and established themselves in the central and southern parts 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 11 

of this hemisphere; but the majority are of opinion that 
they crossed Persia and the frontiers of China, and came in 
by the way of Bhering's Straits. 

An ingenious author of our times considers the Canaanites 
as the first inhabitants of America, who, proceeding from 
Mauritania Tingitana, landed somewhere on the shores of 
the Gulf of Mexico.* " Fifteen hundred years after the ex- 
pulsion of the Canaanites by Joshua, the nine ard a half 
tribes of Israel passed over by the way of Bhering's Straits, 
and like the Goths and Vandals, assaulted that people [the 
Canaanites]. For a second time, and on another continent, 
the descendants of Joshua attacked the Canaanites, whose 
origin they had discovered, and animated by their ancient 
hatred, they burned their temples and destroyed their gigan 
tic towers and cities." 

At first view, the proofs produced by different authors in 
favor of an Israelitish immigration, may seem to be conclu- 
sive ; but, if closely examined, it will be seen that this hy- 
pothesis rests on no solid foundation. 

But it is time to turn to another hypothesis no less interest- 
ing, and up to this time never thoroughly examined. The 
author of this is Don Pablo Felix de Cabrera, of Guate- 
mala, who labors ingeniously and with force to show the re- 
lations between the Phoenicians and Americans, sustaining 
his opinions by Mexican hieroglyphic inscriptions. This 
brilliant hypothesis merits a somewhat extended notice. 

Don Francisco Nunez de la Vega, bishop of Chiapa, 

* We meet in ancient history with three places called Mauritania, viz., 
Mauritania Tingitana, Mauritania Ccesariensis, and Mauritania Sitifensis. 
The first of these was what now constitutes Morocco; it was called Tingi- 
tana from Tingis its capital, afterwards corrupted into Tanja, and finally 
into Tangier, its present name. All the three, however, were in the north- 
ern part of Africa. — [Translator.] 



12 PERU. 

possessed, as he himself states in his " Diocesan Constitutions" 
published at Rome in 1702, a document in which a certain 
voyager or traveller, named Yotan, minutely described the 
countries and nations which he had visited. This man- 
uscript, it was found, was written in the Tzendal language ; 
and was accompanied by certain hieroglyphics cut in stone ; 
by order of the same Yotan the manuscript was to be perma- 
nently deposited in a dark house (or cavern) in the province 
of Soconusco, and there confided to the custody of a noble 
Indian lady, and of a number of Indians, the places of all of 
whom, as they became vacant, were to be continually re-sup- 
plied.* Thus it continued preserved for centuries, perhaps 
for two thousand years, until the bishop above named, Nunez 
de la Yega, in visiting the province, obtained possession of the 
manuscript, and in the year 1690, commanded it to be destroy- 
ed in the public square of Huegetan ; so that the curious notices 
which it contained would have been completely lost, if there 
had not existed, in the hands of Don Ramon de Ordonez y 
Aguiar, in Ciudad Real, according to his own statement, a 
copy, made immediately after the conquest, and which is in 
part published by Cabrera. 

The title or frontispiece of this document consists of two 
squares of different colors, and with their angles on a parallel ; 
one of them represents the ancient continent, and is marked 
with two characters, placed perpendicularly, in the form of the 
letter S ; the other square represents the new continent, and con- 
tains two similar characters, but placed horizontally. When 
Yotan speaks of the places of the Old World, the chapter is 
marked with the upright character S ; but in speaking of the 
second, the chapter is indicated by the sign placed horizon- 

* The reader should be apprised that the Tzendals were one of the In- 
dian nations of Central America. — [Translator.] 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 13 

tally, cO . Between the two squares, may be read the fol- 
lowing, as the title, or topic of the manuscript : u Proof that 
I am a serpent?' The author says in the text, that he is the 
third bearing the name of Yotan ; that by nature, or birth, 
he is a serpent, for he is a chivim ; that he had proposed to 
himself to travel until he should find the way to the hea- 
vens, whither he went to seek the serpents, his parents ; that 
he had gone from Yalum Chivim to Yalum Yotan, and con- 
ducted seven families from the last-named place ; that he 
had happily passed to Europe, and had seen them at Kome, 
building a magnificent temple ; that he had travelled by an 
open path seeking for his brothers, the serpents, and had 
made marks on this same path, and that he had passed by 
the houses of the thirteen serpents. In one of his journeys 
he had encountered other seven families of the Tzequil na- 
tion, whom he recognized as serpents, teaching them all 
that was necessary to prepare suitable sustenance, and that 
they for their part were ready to acknowledge him as God 
himself, and elected him their chief. Such is the tenor of 
the document. 

In the ruins of Palenque, Don Antonio del Kio, a captain 
of artillery, sent in 1786, by the King of Spain, to examine 
the remains of that city, found various figures which repre- 
sent Yotan, on both continents, and this tradition was con- 
firmed some years later by the discovery of divers medals. 

With great diligence and labor, Cabrera availed himself 
of these sources, and commentaries on the history of the 
past, and drew from them the following conclusion, which 
alone we can here offer to our readers, the limits of our work 
not permitting an extended statement of the ingenious proofs 
brought forward by the author. 

Cabrera thinks that a Chivim is the same as a Givim or 
Hivim, i. e. a descendant of Heth, the son of Canaan. To 



14 PERU. 

the Givims cr Hivites (Avims or Avites), of whom mention 
is made in Deuteronomy, (ch. ii. v. 23,) and in Joshua, (ch. 
xiii. v. 3,) belonged Cadmus, and his wife Hermione, who, 
as we read in Ovid's Metamorphoses, were changed into ser- 
pents, and elevated to the dignity of gods. It is probably 
owing to this fable that in the Phoenician language the word 
Givim signifies also a serpent. The city of Tripoli, under 
the dependence of Tyre, was anciently called Chivim ; and 
the theme or topic of Yotan, "I am a. serpent because I am 
Chivim" simply means, when interpreted, "I am a Hivite of 
Tripoli" a city which he calls Valum Votan. Building on a 
profound consideration of ancient history, Cabrera believes 
that the Tyrian Hercules, who, according to Diodorus, went 
over the entire world, was the ancestor of Yotan ; that the 
island of Hispaniola is the ancient Septimia, and the city of 
Alecto that of Valum, from which Votan began his journey- 
ings. He also thinks that the thirteen serpents signify the 
thirteen Canary Isles, which derive their name, from their 
inhabitants, the Canaanites, who tarried in them jointly with 
the Hivites, and that the marks or indications which Votan 
erected in the pathway, to his brothers, mean the two col- 
umns of white marble found at Tangier, with this inscription 
in the Phoenician language : " We are the sons of those ivho fled 
from the robber Joshua, the son of Nun, and found here a secure 
asylum.'''' 

The journey of Votan to Home, and the vast temple which 
he saw being constructed in that city, are events which, ac- 
cording to the foregoing conclusions, should have taken place 
in the year 290 before the Christian era, when, after an ob- 
stinate and bloody war of eight years with the Samnites, the 
Romans granted peace to that people, and the Consul Publius 
Cornelius Rufus commanded to be built a sumptuous temple in 
honor of Romulus and Remus ; an event which, according to 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 15 

Mexican chronology, took place in the year "eight rabbits'''' 
(Toxtli). The seven Tzequil families which Yotan encoun- 
tered on his return were also Phoenicians, and probably ship- 
wrecked persons from the Phoenician embarkation mentioned 
by Diodorus. 

According to Cabrera, the first emigration or colony of the 
Carthaginians in America took place in the first Punic war. 
The other conclusions of this author relative to the founda- 
tion of the kingdom of Amahnamecan by the Carthaginians, 
the emigration of the Toltecs, &c, are incompatible with the 
limits of our work ; but we cannot do less than remark here 
on the opinions of many learned men, who think that the 
Toltecan god, Quetzalcoatl, is identical with the apostle St. 
Thomas ; and it is observable that the surname of this apostle, 
Vidimus, (twin) has the same signification in Greek that 
Quetzalcoatl has in Mexican. It is astonishing, also, to con- 
sider the numerous and extensive regions traversed by this 
apostle; for, though some confine them to Parthia, others 
extend them to Calamita, a doubtful city in India ; others as 
far as Maliopur (at this day the city of St. Thomas on the 
Coromandel coast) ; others, even to China ; and, as we have 
seen, there are not wanting those who think that he came 
even to Central America. 

We decline making any remarks on the documents of 
Yotan, and the interpretations of Cabrera, since, even if they 
are not considered fabulous, they still do not present a species 
of evidence perfectly free from suspicion. 

Omitting many minute and useless hypotheses, more or less 
ingenious, we will succinctly recite certain opinions con- 
cerning the relation of the two hemispheres before the days 
of Columbus, which, however, in our view, offer very slight 
grounds of probability. According to Sandoval, the West- 
ern hemisphere was peopled by emigrations proceeding from 



16 PERU. 

Trapobane, or Ceylon, lying south of the peninsula which 
has been called India from the most remote antiquity. 
George Colunio assigns a Gaelic origin to the American 
races. Charron pronounces for a Celtic root ; and in the 
opinion of Marco Polo and John Eanking, Mango Capac, 
the first Inca of Peru, was the son of the great Kublai Khan, 
and Montezuma, the grandson of Askam, a noble Mongol of 
Tangut. And the celebrated Humboldt thinks that the 
Toltecs derive their origin from the Huns. 

But the hypothesis which, in importance, surpasses all 
these, is that of De Guignes, who, relying upon the chroni- 
cles of China, attributes Peruvian civilization to emigrations 
proceeding from the celestial empire, or the East Indies. Ke- 
cent investigations would seem to confirm this opinion. In 
the year 1844, the learned and ingenious Frenchman, Para- 
VEY, proved that the country of Fu-Sang, described in the 
Chinese annals, is the Mexican empire, which, as it appears 
from the same annals, was known to the Chinese in the fifth 
century of our era. A year later, Senor Neumann de Mo- 
naco treated of the same point as a new discovery, although 
he had knowledge of the works of his predecessor. Neither 
of these learned men, however, knew how to dispose of the 
difficulty which presented itself, in the difference existing 
between the actual Mexican Fauna, and that presented as 
such in the Chinese traditions. The difficulty was a seem- 
ing one only, and the supposed difference easily reconcilable 
by a person versed in Zoology. Monsieur de Paravey, in 
1847, added an interesting appendix to his former work, in 
which he shows that at Uxmal, in Yucatan, there has been 
found sculptured the Buddha of Java, seated under the 
head of a Siva ; and which was copied by Waldeck. 

As the Icelandic documents are of great importance, in 
verifying the entrance of the Scandinavians on the Atlantic 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 17 

coast of the New Continent ; so, also, of equal value are the 
Chinese chronicles, preserved in the work entitled Pian-y-tien, 
to prove a communication of Asia with America, from the 
eastern side of the first-named continent, washed by the 
waves of the Pacific. And, so too, if the investigations and 
discoveries of the future shall prove that no error has been 
committed in the interpretation of the document of Yotan, 
such discovery will not, in the slightest degree, diminish the 
testimony of the Chinese annals ; but on the contrary, will 
rather contribute to confirm the authenticity of the strange 
adventures which are related in their wonderful history. 

There is no doubt that Quetzalcoatl, Bochica, Mango Ca- 
pac, and other reformers of Central America, were Buddhist 
priests, who, by means of their superior learning and civili- 
zation, sought to rule the minds of the natives, and to ele- 
vate themselves to political supremacy.* 

A remarkable analogy and numerous points of agreement 
present themselves as existing between the religion of Buddha 
and Bramah, and the Mexican worship. As among the 
East Indians, an undefined being, Bramah, the divinity in 
general, was shadowed forth in the Trimurti,f or as a God 

* A prolonged struggle between the two religious sects of the Brah- 
mins and Buddhists was terminated by the immigration of the Chamans 
from Tibet, in Mongolia, into China and Japan. If this Tartar race 
passed over to the northwest coast of America, and thence to the south 
and east, as far as the shores of the Gila and of Misury, as the etymolo- 
gical investigations of Yater would seem to prove ; it will not then ap- 
pear strange to find among the semi-barbarous nations of the New Con- 
tinent idols and archaeological monuments, a hieroglyphic writing, a 
knowledge of the length of the year, and traditions concerning the origin 
of the world, which will all recall the knowledge, arts and religious 
opinions of the ancient nations. — Humboldt — American Monuments. 

t The Trimurti of the East Indies corresponds in a certain manner with 
the Trinity of Christianity. 



18 PERU. 

under three forms, viz., Bramah, Vishnu, and Sciva ; so also 
the Supreme Being was venerated among the Indians of 
Mexico, under the three forms of Ho, Huitzilopoctli* and 
Tlaloc, who formed the Mexican Trimurti. The attributes 
and worship of the Mexican goddess Mictanihuatl preserve 
the most perfect analogy with those of the sanguinary and 
implacable Kali ; as do equally the legends of the Mexican 
divinity Teayamiqui with the formidable Bhavani ; both 
these Indian deities wives of Siva-Eudra. Not less sui 
prising is the characteristic likeness which exists between the 
pagodas of India and the Tcocallis of Mexico, while the idols 
of both temples offer a similitude in physiognomy and 
posture which cannot escape the observation of any one who 
has been in both countries. 

The same analogy is observed between the oriental Tri- 
murti and that of Peru ; thus Con corresponds to Bramah, 
Pachacamac to Yishnu, and Huiracocha to Siva. The 
Peruvians never dared to erect a temple to their ineffable 
God, whom they never confounded with other divinities ; a 
remarkable circumstance, which reminds us of similar conduct 
among a part of the inhabitants of India as to Bramah, who 
is the Eternal, the abstract God. Equally will the study of 
worship in the two hemispheres show intimate connection 
between the existence and attributes of the devadasis (female 
servants of the Gods) and the Peruvian virgins of the Sun. 

All these considerations, and many others, which from 
want of space we must omit, evidently prove that the greater 
part of the Asiatic religions, such as that of Fo, in China, 
of Buddha, in Japan, of Sommono-Cadom, in India; the La- 
maism of Thibet, the doctrine of Dschakdschiamuni among 

* The most interesting investigations as to this divinity are in the 
work of Dr. J. Gr. Miiller — Der Mexkanische Nationalgott, HuitzilopocTiili, 
1847. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 19 

the Mongols and Calmucs ; as well as the worship of Quet- 
zalcoatl, in Mexico, and of Mango- Capac, in Peru, are but so 
many branches of the same trunk ; whose root the labors of 
archaeology and modern philosophy have not been able to 
determine with certainty, notwithstanding all the discussion, 
perseverance, sagacity and boldness of hypothesis, among 
the learned men who have been occupied in investigating 
the subject. 

And, on the other hand, how marvellous the analogy be- 
tween Christianity and Buddhism ! The first Christian mis- 
sionaries who visited Thibet, where Buddhism predominates, 
were overcome with surprise on finding religious usages in 
perfect accordance with those of Christian countries ; so that 
they actually considered Buddhism as a degenerated Chris- 
tianity, although it was perfectly certain that the last was 
much the more recent. The missionaries found among the 
followers of Buddha the pastoral crook or staff, the rosary, 
fasting, mendicant friars, temples adorned with paintings and 
sculpture, the burning of candles in divine worship, the short 
garment of the priests, the thurible or censer, the habit of 
singing certain hymns, the ringing of a bell as a signal for 
the faithful to unite in devotion, to which we may add sacri- 
fices, the veneration of relics, holy water, pilgrimages, and 
indulgences granted by the Grand Lama. 

Not less, however, was the surprise of the first Spanish 
ecclesiastics, who found, on reaching Mexico, a priesthood as 
regularly organized as that of the most civilized countries. 
Clothed with a powerful and effective authority which ex- 
tended its arms to man in every condition and in all the 
stages of his life, the Mexican priests were mediators between 
man and the Divinity ; they brought the newly born infants 
into the religious society, they directed their training and 
education, they determined the entrance of the young men 



20 PERU. 

into the service of the State, they consecrated marriage by 
their blessing, they comforted the sick and assisted the dy- 
ing. This sacerdotal authority, so like in all things that of 
the Christian Church, particularly manifested itself in a spe- 
cies of confession which prevailed in Mexico, and concerning 
which the dogma obtained that a wrong or sin confessed to the 
priest, and expiated through the medium of a penance im- 
posed by him, was thereby completely blotted out, and was 
placed beyond the reach of human justice and secular 
power. 

Finally, we can do no less, before we conclude this chap- 
ter, than insist on this point, that Quetzalcoatl and Mango 
Capac were both missionaries of the worship of Bramah or 
Buddha, and probably of different sects. It does not, how- 
ever, now fall within our purpose to present systematically 
the positive proofs of this assertion ; we hope to give them 
hereafter in extenso, in a work specially devoted to the sub- 
ject, which we propose to publish. We now pass on to the 
particular consideration of the inhabitants of Peru, viewed 
under several aspects. 



NOTES. 

To enumerate the various hypotheses which Lave been framed on the 
subject discussed in this chapter, would far transcend our limits, and, in- 
deed, require a volume. Without here attempting such a work, we must 
confine our annotations at present to the statements of the text. 

Of the visits of the Scandinavians, little doubt seems now to be enter- 
tained. The extent of coast explored by them is much less certain ; 
though some have supposed, and, as we think, on insufficient testimony, 
that they were as far south as the shores of South Carolina. The princi- 
pal testimony for the fact of their coming at all, is derived from the docu- 
ments alluded to in the text, and published in the " Antiquitaies Ameri- 
cana" of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries. But confirmatory 
evidence is supposed to exist in monuments that have been discovered in 
this country, and among these stands most conspicuous what is known 
as the Dighton Rock. This stone is about six and a half miles south of 
Taunton, on the east side of Taunton River, in the town of Berkley, 
Bristol county, Massachusetts. It is a fine-grained gray wacJce, and, on 
one of its sides, is covered with marks and lines, of which many copies 
have been made, at different dates, from the year 1680 up to 1847. In 
1830, the Rhode Island Historical Society caused an accurate copy to be 
made of the marks and lines, as they then appeared. In 1847, the same 
work was performed by the New York Historical Society. There is a 
general resemblance in most of these copies ; though of some it may be 
said that one, familiar with the rock itself, would scarce recognize them 
as intended representations of the iracription on it. The lines seem not 
to have been chiselled, but to have been made by picking with the point 
of some iron implement. Some have supposed the characters to be, in 
part, at least, Phoenician, while the Northern antiquaries have (after com- 
paring all the copies, except that of 1847,) pronounced them to be Scandi- 
navian, and have even ventured, in part at least, on an interpretation. 

(21) 



22 PERU. 

Whether they be Scandinavian or not, there is one interesting fact con- 
nected with the Dighton inscription, for which we are indebted to Mr. 
Schoolcraft. At Michillimacinac, in 1839, this gentleman submitted sev- 
eral drawings of the inscription to the Algonquin chief, Chingwauk, some- 
what celebrated for his skill in deciphering the pictographic delineations 
of his race. After an attentive study of them, Chingwauk pronounced a 
part of them to be the work of the New England Indians, and furnished 
what he conceived to be the interpretation of the characters. As to some 
of the characters, however, he professed his inability to decipher them, 
and Mr. Schoolcraft seems to think they may be Scandinavian ; at all 
events, the visits of the Northmen to America, in the tenth and elev- 
enth centuries, may be considered a fact generally admitted by antiqua- 
ries. 

As to the opinion so confidently expressed by the author, that Irish 
colonies were planted in the Carolinas and Florida as early as in the 
ninth century of our era, all that can be said is, that we know at pres- 
ent of no other testimony in support of such a fact, but that which is 
contained in the text. There are, however, one or two particulars con- 
tained in the story which call for remark. If by the term "Esquimaux" 
be meant the people so designated at present, they are here placed fur- 
ther south on the Atlantic coast than they have generally been supposed 
to have reached. If Snorre Thurlusson saw a troop of horse, with a leader 
mounted on that animal, it contradicts the generally received opinion, 
that the horse was introduced into America by the Spanish conquerors, 
at a much later period. It should, however, be added that, within the 
last two years, the fossil remains of the horse have been said to be found 
in America. The report, however, was so vaguely given in a newspaper 
paragraph, that we have been unable to verify it. More light may 
possibly hereafter be thrown upon this supposed Irish colony; we 
confess, however, that, as at present advised, we very much doubt its 
existence. 

As to the hypothesis of the settlement of America by the ten tribes, 
Adair has stated it most strongly. It is, however, much older than Adair. 
The Rev. Thomas Thorowgood, in 1645, published a sermon entitled, 
"Jews in America; or, Probabilities that the Americans are Jews;" 
this was answered by Sir Hamon L'Estrange in 1651, in his book, 
"Americans no Jews," and, as we think, conclusively answered. The 
hypothesis, however, has been revived at various periods since, but has 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 23 

not generally found favor among the best informed students of American 
antiquities. 

The next hypothesis, of a Phoenician origin for that body of settlers 
who peopled Guatemala and the adjacent regions, has been ingeniously 
and learnedly supported by De Laet ; and has, within the last two or 
three years, been invested with fresh interest by the new discoveries of 
the Abbe de Bourbourg, whose work is now (as we are informed) in the 
press in Paris. The text, in its very imperfect exposition of this hypothesis, 
refers to the work of Cabrera only. Cabrera himself knew, personally, little 
or nothing on the subject. His book is made up of what he could learn from 
the laborious researches of Ordonez, of which, by an abuse of confidence, 
he availed himself. The Abbe de Bourbourg thus relates the story : — 
"The second work of Don Ramon de Ordonez, and, without question, the 
most important, was a complete history of the ancient mythology of the 
Tzendals, and of the building of the first four American cities. During 
the stay of Don Ramon in Guatemala, where he resided for some time, 
he communicated a portion of the materials which he had collected for 
his great work to Doctor Paul Felix Cabrera, who, abusing the confidence 
thus reposed in him, appropriated the labors of the learned archaeologist, 
and commented largely, in various works composed by him, on the origin 
of the Americans. One of these was translated into English, and pub- 
lished in Great Britain, in 1822. But in these works, Cabrera, who did 
not sufficiently comprehend the writings of Ordonez, completely disfig- 
ured them, and hazarded some ridiculous opinions of his own. Ordonez 
complained bitterly of this theft, and of the false representations which 
Cabrera had given of his work, and, because of them, obtained against 
him a decree of the Royal audience of Guatemala, in June, 1794." In 
fact, Cabrera has done much to render the views of Ordonez, which are 
worthy of attentive study, ridiculous and incredible. 

We cannot enter here particularly into the hypothesis of Ordonez ; ere 
long we hope it will be presented to the public by the Abbe de Bour- 
bourg, from whom, as yet, we have nothing but his four letters from Mex- 
ico, addressed to the Duke de Yalmy, and giving an outline of his dis- 
coveries. These letters are full of interest, and eminently suggestive to 
the American archaeologist. As the whole subject, however, of Ordonez's 
writings is brought under discussion by the present writer, in a larger 
work which will ere long be published, he will here say no more, than 



24 PERU. 

that the testimony to sustain the hypothesis of an early Phoenician colony 
in America, is by no means feeble. 

As to the hypothesis, suggested by De Guignes, of emigration to the 
western coast of America, from the eastern coast of Asia, the testimony 
in support of it is very strong, and to the mind of the present writer, con- 
clusive. Such emigration, however, took place in the latter part of the 
fifth century of the Christian era ; and while it explains many facts in 
America, which long perplexed our archaeologists, it by no means aids us 
in determining the origin of our earliest population. Baron Humboldt is 
entitled to the honor of having, by a suggestion of probability merely, 
opened the door to the discovery of the evidence which sustains this hy- 
pothesis. For a fuller view of this subject, however, the present writer 
must refer to the larger work already alluded to. 



CHAPTEK II. 

THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF PERU. 

Zoological and physiological investigations, the botany 
and geology of a country, form the foundation of its physi- 
cal history, even as its oral traditions, its monuments, inscrip- 
tions, and annals are the indispensable materials for an his- 
toric synthesis of its political and moral aspect. As an his- 
torian, properly so called (whether anthropological or physi- 
cal,) one is under a strict obligation not to permit himself to 
be carried away by any prejudice, to make a wise and im- 
partial use of his materials, to seek sincerely for the truth, 
and when found, to admit it without hesitation, even though 
it may tend to dissipate opinions entertained from infancy 
and sanctioned by universal reception. The progress which 
various branches of science have made in our day, places 
them in seeming opposition to the Hebrew traditions preserv- 
ed in the sacred writings ; and of all these branches, anthro- 
pology is sometimes that which, at first view, seems to har- 
monize least with the meaning generally given to the first 
chapters of Genesis ; as by ingenious explanations it aims 
to demonstrate that the whole human race did not proceed 
from a common source, and that the ISTew Continent was peo- 
pled without any intervention of Eastern emigration. De- 
clining here the examination of a subject so obscure, we will 
confine ourselves to an exposition of facts, by means of 
2 C»> 



26 PERU. 

which each reader may form for himself such an opinion as 
he judges to be correct. 

The singular conformation of the Peruvian crania, and the 
differences of structure which they present on a comparison 
with later American crania, have repeatedly been the subjects 
of particular study to -naturalists. To explain these differ- 
ences, recourse has been had to different hypotheses, none of 
which are satisfactory, because the learned men who formed 
them had not really sufficient materials with which to con- 
struct them. According to the recent numerous and scrupu- 
lously careful observations of Doctor J. D. Von Tschudi,* who, 
from his long residence in Peru, had it in his power to ex- 
amine hundreds of crania of the ancient inhabitants of that 
country, it would appear that three distinct races dwelt there 
before the foundation of the kingdom of the Incas. Let us 
examine the exact description of these crania in each one of 
these three nations or races. 

FIRST FORM. 

The cranium, viewed from the anterior part, represents a 
truncated pyramid with the base turned upward ; the face is 
small, the orbits are transversely oval, the upper jaw de- 
scends almost perpendicularly, the zygomatic processes are 
short, and point downward almost perpendicularly, the su- 
perciliary arches are a little protuberant, the curvature of the 
frontal bone scarcely perceptible, almost perpendicular up to 
the superciliary arch, and thence inclining gradually to the 
coronal suture. The frontal protuberances are very distinct, 
as are also the parietal protuberances, forming at the sides 
the most salient points of the cranium. Toward the sides 
and behind, both the parietals are united in a direction al- 

* Ueber die Urbewohner von Peru von Dr. J. D. Von Tschudi, en 
Miiller's Archiv fur Physiologie, 1845, pp. 98-109. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 27 

most perpendicular to the temporal and occipital bones. 
The posterior wall of the occipital bone, up to the superior 
semicircular line, is perpendicular, and curves a little oblique- 
ly inward, and downward to the foramen magnum, or large 
occipital hole. 

SECOND FORM. 

Yiewed from the anterior part, the cranium has an oval form, 
and laterally assumes the form of a vault, sufficiently reg- 
ular, and somewhat elongated. The space occupied by the 
face is large, the orbits quadrangular, and the vertical diame- 
ter equal to the transverse, the upper jaw is slanting, the ex- 
ternal angular processes of the frontal bone short, and direct- 
ed strongly outward, the nasal process very broad and con- 
vex. The frontal bone is curved, with an inclination regular 
enough, but still more strongly marked than in form the first. 
The superciliary arches are not very distinct, the frontal 
protuberances almost imperceptible. The parietal bones, 
from their junction with the frontal bone, incline backward 
and downward ; the protuberances of these bones are low 
down, and not very distinct, so that the transverse diameter 
of the head, measured from the upper point of one zygoma- 
tic process to the other, is not the larger. The upper portion 
of the occipital bone is placed vertically below the lambdoi- 
dal suture about an inch, but suddenly inclines strongly for- 
ward, and continues to incline thus horizontally to the fora- 
men magnum, or great occipital hole. 

THIRD FORM. 

Yiewed from the anterior part, the cranium presents the 
figure of a square, elongated from the lower and front parts 
towards the hinder and upper ; the anterior side of which, 
from the swell to its opposite, makes the transverse the 



28 PERU. 

greater diameter of the head. The part of the face is very 
well defined, but shorter than in the second form. The or- 
bits are somewhat oval, and their vertical diameter exceeds 
the transverse in length by some lines. The nasal process 
is broader than in the first form, but somewhat narrower 
than in the second. The frontal bone is narrow and long, 
and its inclination very great. In many crania it is concave 
in its middle portion, and presents, a little before its junc- 
tion with the parietals, a strong frontal protuberance in the 
middle. Behind the coronal suture, the surface of the cra- 
nial vault is concave enough ; and in this place the parietals 
curve a little upward, and then quickly fall in a straight line 
to unite with the occipital bone. This bone, between the 
lambdoidal suture and the superior semicircular line, inclines 
obliquely inward, and from this spot is suddenly doubled or 
folded downward and forward till it reaches the foramen 
magnum, or grand occipital hole. 

These important anatomical proportions give rise to other 
relations no less interesting, which we proceed to explain : 

I. In the first form, the longitudinal or true diameter of 
the head (from the glabella* to the opposite point of the 
occipital bone, a little above the superior semicircular line,) 
is equal to the transverse diameter. The inclination of the 
vertex of the head to the first diameter is 68 degrees. The 
inclination of the lower part of the occipital bone to the hori- 
zontal (measured from the foramen magnum to the external 
occipital protuberance) is 45 degrees ; and of the upper part 
of the same bone is 82 degrees. 

A line drawn from the point of junction of the parietal 

* By this technical Latin term is designated that smooth part of the 
bones of the forehead situated between the two orbits, or cavities, in 
whicfr the eyes are fixed. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



29 




with the frontal bones, and passing outside of the cranium to 
its base, would almost touch the anterior edge of the external 
opening of the ear, and would meet a corresponding line on 
the opposite side forward of the anterior edge of the foramen 
magnum, or great occipital hole. The angle of Camper is 
77 degrees.* 

II. In the second form the longitudinal or true diameter 
(from the glabella to the junction of the third middle and 
parietal bones) is found to be, with respect to the transverse 
diameter, in the proportion of 1 to 1*3. — The inclination of 
the forehead to the first diameter is 45 degrees. 



* By this phrase is designated an important angle in anthropology, ob- 
served and described by the distinguished Dutch anatomist, Dr. Peter 
Camper ; an angle whose greater or less opening indicates the intellectual 
superiority of a race, and, up to a certain point, of individuals. One of 
the lines which form it (more or less oblique) is drawn from the most 
prominent point of the forehead to the extreme projection of the upper 
jaw ; the other is horizontal, and passes from the entrance of the ear (the 
meatus auditorius) to the former line. The angle thus formed, sometimes 
called the facial angle, is almost a right angle in the Greek statues and in 
the present types of the Caucasian race. 



30 PEKU. 




The inclination of the lower portion of the occipital bone 
from the foramen magnum to the upper semicircular line is 
only 17 degrees ; from this last to the upper fifth part of the 
occipital bone is 55, and the inclination of the upper fifth is 
85 degrees. The line before named, drawn from the junc- 
tion of the coronal suture with the longitudinal to the base, 
will pass behind the mastoid process, and is met by its cor- 
responding opposite in the middle of the foramen magnum. 
The angle of Camper is 68 degrees. 

III. In the third form, the longitudinal or true diameter 
(from the glabella to the point of junction of the longitudinal 
suture with the lambdoidal) is found, in the proportion to 
the transverse diameter, of 1 to 1*5. — The inclination of the 
forehead to the first diameter reaches 23 degrees only ; the 
inclination of the lower portion of the occipital bone is 32 
degrees ; that of the upper portion is 60 degrees. The line 
drawn from the angle formed by the coronal and longitudi- 
nal suture to the base of the cranium touches the point of 
junction of the parietal, temporal and occipital bones, and is 
met by a corresponding line on the opposite side, between 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



31 




the posterior edge of the foramen magnum and the lower 
semicircular line. The angle of Camper is 69 degrees. 

"We will now examine the geographical distribution of 
these three races. 

The first occupied the shores of the Pacific, bounded on 
the north by the uninhabited region of Tumbes, on the 
south by the immense desert of Atacama, on the east by 
the Cordilleras, and on the west by the ocean. This race 
we designate by the name of the Chinchas, after that of the 
most noted tribe that dwelt between the 10th and 14th de- 
grees of south latitude. The crania of this race are to be 
met with in almost all the anthropological collections of 
Europe, it being very easy to obtain them in the vicinity of 
the Peruvian ports and harbors, where they lie scarce hidden 
by a light covering of sand. There are among them varie- 
ties, artificially produced, and differing according to their 
respective localities ; sometimes the head is found very much 
flattened on the right side, and at other times on the left, so 
that the protuberance of the parietal bone on one side is little 
or none, while it shows itself very prominent on the other ; 
there are some specimens in which the upper portion of the 



32 PERU. 

occipital bone is so much depressed that the parietal bones 
protrude considerably. These irregularities were undoubt- 
edly produced by mechanical causes, and were considered as 
the distinctive marks of families ; for in one Huaca* will 
always be found the same form of crania ; while in another, 
near by, the forms are entirely different from those of the 
first. 

The second race inhabited the vast Peru-Bolivian eleva- 
tions which raise themselves twelve thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. M. D'Orbigny distinguishes them by the 
name of the Aymaraes. In this race commenced the dy- 
nasty of the Incas, which, in the space of a few centuries, 
subjected to its dominion the other tribes. The crania of 
these people present differences equally remarkable, according 
to their respective localities, and particularly in the contour 
of the arch of the cranium. 

It is proper here to remark that there is a very striking 
conformity between the configuration of this race and that 
of the Guanches, or inhabitants of the Canaries, who used 
also the same mode of preserving the bodies of their dead ; 
and this resemblance is another proof which lends support 
to what is stated in the document or history of Yotan, be- 
fore referred to. 

The third race, concerning which we have not so much 
positive information, occupied the territory comprehended 
between the Cordilleras and the Andes, and between the 
degrees of 9 and 14 of south latitude.f This race, which we 

* A Huaca is a place of interment.— [Translator.] 

t These names are not unfrequently confounded. There are two great 
mountain ranges in Peru, running parallel to the Pacific. The nearest 
is at an average distance of 60 or 70 miles from the sea ; the other is fur- 
ther inland. The western chain is what our author calls the Cordillera, 
and the eastern is the Andes. See Yon Tschudi's remarks on this subject, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 33 

call the nation of the Huancas, after the name of the most 
powerful of the tribes which composed it, offers a very rare 
and characteristic formation, which cannot for a moment be 
confounded with either of the preceding, and distinguishes it 
also from the heterogeneous nations which we sometimes find 
mixed up with it. 

As we have intimated, the race of the Aymaraes was the 
root of the Incas or Peruvian emperors, and to them is to be 
attributed that spreading movement from south to north 
(attested by the history of these vast regions), the conse- 
quences of which were the conquest of the adjacent nations, 
and the modifications and changes, both physical and moral, 
which, by reason of their conquest, the races who peopled 
them underwent. The Huancas, as being the nearest, were 
subdued first; afterwards followed the Chinchas, and both 
the conquered people found themselves under the necessity 
of yielding to the law of the strongest, and of adopting the 
customs, religion and laws of their conquerors ; the natural 
result of this, in time, was a frequent mixture of the several 
races with each other, and a consequent mixed formation in 
the crania of the new generations. 

It is necessary, therefore, to have at our command suffi- 
cient materials by means of which to sift out the primitive 
relations of these several races ; and every synthesis, framed 
in the absence of such materials, will necessarily be errone- 
ous, hasty and inconsistent. 

And here two questions present themselves : 

I. What was the cranial configuration of the primitive or 
real Indians ? 

in the very interesting and valuable account of his travels in Peru, Ch. 
XI. An English translation of this book was published by Putnam, in 
1847.— [Translator.] 

2* 



34 PERU. 

II. Can there be found 3 anywhere, now existing, the races 
above named, pure and without any mixture ? 

The most scrupulous investigations on these points have 
furnished us with the following results : 

First The true Indians, who, although dwelling in that 
part of Peru formerly under the power of the Spaniards, 
were never mingled in blood with Europeans or Africans, 
indicate by the formation of their crania a race very distinct 
from all the other tribes of South America, so that they 
might be considered a really primitive race, were it not that 
the facts brought to light incontestably prove that they pro- 
ceed from the union of the three races already described. 

Thus the cranium, in its contour, assumes the square form 
of the Chinchas. The size of the face is large, the upper 
jaw sufficiently projecting and oblique, the orbits square, the 
zygomatic process strongly developed and inclining back- 
ward, the nasal process near the frontal bone very strikingly 
convex, and then descending perpendicularly ; the curvature 
of the forehead has, as in the Aymaraes, an inclination 
clearly marked from the glabella, the frontal protuberances 
are scarcely perceptible, the vault of the cranium is thick, 
the posterior part of the frontal bone and both the parietal 
bones are like those of the Huancas, although the point of 
union of these last bones with the upper part of the occipital 
recalls the configuration of the Aymaraes, the occipital 
curving from the lambdoidal suture gently at the beginning, 
and more rapidly afterwards to the base of the cranium. 

The right diameter of the cranium passes, as in those of 
the Huancas, from the glabella to the point of union of the 
lambdoidal with the longitudinal suture ; but, as in the cra- 
nia of the Aymaraes, the greater transverse diameter passes 
from the upper root of the zygomatic process of the temporal 
bone to the same point on the opposite side. The propor- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 35 

tion which it bears to the first diameter is as 1 to 1*1 ; con- 
sequently a greater approximation than to the proportion of 
the Chinchas crania, which is as 1 to 1*0. 

Although the greater number of the crania of the true In- 
dians is in accordance with these statements, yet there are 
numerous exceptions, and an approximation greater or less 
to the three primitive races ; an approximation which de- 
pends on the provinces in which the Indians live, since we ob- 
serve that one or the other of the primitive forms predominates 
more or less in those regions which have been from a remote 
epoch the home of one or the other of the typical races. 

Secondly. The second question is of great importance, see- 
ing that from its resolution the proof is drawn, whether the 
formation of the crania is or is not the result of mechanical 
pressure. Many physiologists, as it would seem, generally 
consider these forms anomalous, and as an effect produced on 
the heads of children entirely by pressure with small boards, 
or broad swathes, with which it was usual to squeeze the 
crania of infants. It is notorious enough that such a prac- 
tice did obtain among various barbarous nations of the New 
World ; and that it existed among the Chinchas for the sake 
of producing distinctive marks in families ; an abuse which 
was forbidden by an apostolic bull in the sixteenth century. 
But, in our opinion, those physiologists are undoubtedly in 
error, who suppose that the different phrenological aspects 
offered by the Peruvian race were exclusively artificial. This 
hypothesis rests on insufficient grounds ; its authors could 
have made their observations solely on the crania of adult 
individuals, as it is only a few years since two mummies of 
children were carried to England, which, according to the 
very exact description of Dr. Bellamy, * belonged to the tribe 

* Annals and Magazine of Natural History, October, 1842. 



36 PERU. 

of Ajmaraes. The two crania (both, of children scarce a year 
old) had, in all respects, the same form as those of adults. 
We ourselves have observed the same fact in many mum- 
mies of children of tender age, who, although they had cloths 
about them, were yet without any vestige or appearance of 
pressure of the cranium. 

More still : the same formation of the head presents itself 
in children yet unborn ; and of this truth we have had con- 
vincing proof in the sight of a foetus, enclosed in the womb 




FRONT AND SIDE VIEW. 



of a mummy of a pregnant woman, which we found in a cave 
of Huichay, two leagues from Tarma, and which is, at this 
moment, in our collection. Professor D'Outrepont, of great 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 37 

celebrity in the department of obstetrics, has assured us that 
the foetus is one of seven months' age. It belongs, according 
to a very clearly denned formation of the cranium, to the 
tribe of the Huancas. We present the reader with a draw- 
ing of this conclusive and interesting proof in opposition to 
the advocates of mechanical action as the sole and exclusive 
cause of the phrenological form of the Peruvian race. 

The same proof is to be found in another mummy which 
exists in the museum of Lima, under the direction of Don 
M. E. de Rivero. 

It is not possible to explain how, by means of pressure with 
fillets or bandages, the occipital bone can be transformed to 
a plane almost horizontal, without producing, at the same 
time, a considerable declination of the sinciput ; which last 
is entirely wanting in the Aymaraes, and which we yet find in 
the Huancas, whose occiputs, notwithstanding, show no sign of 
pressure, not being, by any means, able to preserve their regu- 
lar inclination as the points of resistance to a frontal pressure. 

The considerable extension in length of the frontal bone of 
the parietals, and of the occipital in the last two races, might 
sometimes lead one to suspect pressure on the sides; but to 
this opinion is opposed the inclination of the frontal and oc- 
cipital bone ; but the most effectual proof against the use of 
mechanical means will, after all, be found in the actual exist- 
ence of the three races in distinct though limited localities, in 
which there cannot be found any traces of envelopment or 
pressure of the head in the newly-born. 

We can therefore assert with certainty : 

I. That the race of the Chinchas is actually found, without 
any admixture, in various towns as well of the coast of 
Northern Peru, as of the province of the Yauyos. 

II. That the tribe of the Aymaraes is still found in the 
sierras of Southern Peru. 



88 



PERU. 



III. That in some families of the department of Junin, 
the tribe of the Huancas is preserved pure, as we have had 
occasion ourselves to see. 

In conclusion, it may be proper to notice an osteologic 
anomaly, very interesting, which is observed in the crania 
of all the three races ; and it is this : that those of children of 
tender years, in the first months after their birth, present 
an interparietal bone (os interparielale) perfectly distinct ; a 
bone which, as its name indicates, will be found placed be- 
tween the two parietals, and having a form more or less tri- 
angular, whose sharpest angle is above, and is bounded by 
the posterior edges of the parietal bones, while its base at- 
taches itself to the occipital bone, by a suture which runs, 
from the angle of union of the temporal with the occipital 
bone, a little above the upper semicircular line, to the simi- 
lar angle on the opposite side. It follows that this inter- 




parietal bone occupies precisely that part of the occiput 
which in the other crania is occupied by the upper portion 
of the occipital, and which is connected with the parietals 
by the lambdoidal suture. 

At four or five months this bone is regularly united to the 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 39 

occipital, and the -union begins at the middle of the suture, 
and advances by little and little towards both sides ; although 
even after a year it is not found completely effected, but in 
the middle only ; a furrow shows the trace of the suture ; 
this furrow is not obliterated even at the most advanced age, 
and may be easily recognized in all the crania of all these races. 
Sometimes the union takes place very slowly, as in the cra- 
nium above, which is that of a youth of the Chinchas, of 
ten or twelve years old, in which the occipital suture may be 
seen open through its whole length. The length of the in- 
terparietal bone in this individual is four inches at the base, 
and an inch and ten lines high : dimensions which sufficient- 
ly prove that this singular formation is not to be confounded 
with that of the small supernumerary bones called Wormia- 
na, which are uniformly found between the parietals in all 
human crania ; so that this interparietal bone is a true 
anomaly. 

Dr. Bellamy was the first who made mention of this bone, 
which he had occasion to remark in one of the mummies be- 
fore mentioned. Among the numerous crania which we had 
the opportunity to examine in Peru, we have had the means 
of convincing ourselves that this suture is invariably found 
either open, or closed in part, or completely united to the 
occipital bone, and well indicated by a furrow very clearly 
marked. 

It is a circumstance worthy of the attention of learned an- 
thropologists, that there is thus found in one section of the 
human race a perpetual anomalous phenomenon, which is 
wanting in all others, but which is characteristic of the rumi- 
nant and carnivorous animals.* 

* Mr. Prescott informs us that the crania of the Inca race manifest an 
incontestable superiority over the other races of the country on the score 
of intelligence ; and to this intellectual superiority, announced externally 



40 PEKU. 

We much regret that a want of materials does not permit 
us to describe the formation of the crania of the barbarous 
Indians on the eastern side of Peru. 

Enough, however, has been said to enable the reader to 
form a general opinion upon the physical constitution of the 
ancient inhabitants of Peru. "We will now proceed to a his- 
tory of the country before the coming of the Spaniards. 

by the cranium, this eminent writer attributes the origin of that remark- 
able civilization and social polity which made the Peruvian monarchy 
superior to all the other States of South America. The work of Dr. Mor- 
ton referred to by Mr. Prescott contains various drawings of the Inca 
cranium, and also of the common Peruvian cranium, proving that the 
facial angle of the first, although not very large, was much greater than 
that of the second, which was particularly flat, and wanting in intellec- 
tual character. — Crania Americana. (Philadelphia, 1829.) 

We must be permitted to say that all the Peruvian crania, figured in the 
work of Dr. Morton, belong to those of the tribes which we have de- 
scribed in this chapter ; doubting, as we do doubt, whether this learned 
anthropologist had it in his power to obtain crania of the royal family of the 
Incas: for with the exception of the mummies of the four emperors which 
were carried to Lima, and which were buried in a court or yard of Santa 
Anna, and the remains of which it has been impossible to discover, up to this 
day the sepulchres of the others are unknown, as well as of the nobility 
descended from them. If at this day uncertainty exists as to the remains 
of Francis Pizarro, deposited in the vaults of the cathedral church at 
Lima, how much more difficult must it be to affirm with certainty that 
Dr. Morton or any other person has really possessed crania of the Inca 
race ? Besides, would they not have undergone modifications by inter- 
mixture with other noble races of different tribes existing in the capital? 



NOTE. 

The subject embraced in this chapter is one admitting of, perhaps, no 
illustration beyond that afforded by the text itself. While more particu- 
larly attractive to the physiologist, it presents two or three important 
facts of interest to the general reader. 

First. It shows that the crania of Dr. Morton's work are not, as he 
supposed, crania of the Incas ; and consequently the inferences from the 
erroneous opinion he entertained are no longer admissible. 

Secondly. It proves that all the peculiarities of cranial conformation, 
heretofore referred, without exception, to external causes, such as pres- 
sure, are not, in every instance, thus produced. In some cases they are 
natural. 

Third. An anomaly characteristic of the ruminant and carnivorous ani- 
mals would seem to exist in the ancient Peruvian crania. On this sub- 
ject, we are indebted to a professional friend, from whom we sought in- 
formation, for the following note. 

" The ossa Wormiana are small bones, found occasionally in all the su- 
tures of the skull, but most frequently in the lambdoidal, which separates 
the occipital from the parietal bones. These ossa Wormiana vary in size, 
from two lines to two inches in diameter. They are very variable in 
position and shape, as well as in size, and are mostly of an irregular form. 
The largeness of size, regularity of form, uniformity of shape, and position 
of the interparietal bones, described by the author, distinguish them from 
the ossa Wormiana. and seem to confirm his opinion that the ancient 
Peruvian skulls are peculiar, and mark a distinct and lower type of organ- 
ization." 



(41) 



CHAPTEE III. 

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE HISTORY OF PERU, BEFORE THE 
ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS. 

The origin of the Peruvian empire, like that of all known 
nations, is found involved in fables and incredible traditions, 
hiding thereby the truth, which it is very difficult, and, at 
times, impossible to disentangle. Man's inclination for the 
marvellous, his ignorance of its causes, the magical perspect- 
ive of recollection, the intentional imposture of the priest- 
hood, and above all individual patriotism, or the collective 
pride of the race, induced the majority of the people to ap- 
propriate to themselves a special protection from heaven, and 
to attribute a divine origin to their chiefs. The Peruvians 
believed that the Sun, a tutelar divinity of their empire, had 
sent his own sons to reform and instruct them, of whom the 
descendants were their Incas or Emperors. Previous to the 
arrival of these children of the Sun, Peru, like the other ter- 
ritories of the New World, was found, according to tradi- 
tion, divided into several nations, or independent tribes, wan- 
dering or fixed, rude and ferocious, whose unteachable and 
warlike disposition prompted them to battle continually 
among themselves. Ignorant of all industry and culture, 
knowing no law of morality, nor any social compact, wan- 
dering through the forests, more resembling the brutes than 
the human race, subjected to the inclemency of the elements, 

(42) 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 43 

and to the molestations and evils consequent upon this sav- 
age state, none teaching them that they might better their 
condition ; such was their state, when the merciful Father, 
the Sun, placed two of his children on the lake of Titicaca, 
and told them "that they might go where they wished, and 
wheresoever they pleased ; they might stop to eat and to sleep ; 
commanded them to place in the ground a small wedge of 
gold, which he gave them, informing them that where that 
wedge should sink at one blow, and go into the earth, there 
the Sun wished them to stop, and make their residence and 
court. Arrived at the valley of Cuzco, after having vainly 
tried, through all the roads where they had travelled, to sink 
the wedge, they found themselves on the ridge of Huanan- 
cauri, and there endeavored anew to sink the small wedge, 
which went in with so much facility at the first blow, that 
they saw it no more. Then said the man to his sister and 
wife, 'In this valley, our father, the Sun, commands us to 
stop and make it our seat and residence, to accomplish his 
will. It is necessary that we take different ways, and that 
each should attempt to draw together and attract these peo- 
ple, to indoctrinate them, and accomplish the good, which our 
father, the Sun, commands.' "* 

From the ridge of Huanancauri, the man went to the north, 
and the woman to the south, and harangued the multitudes, 
exhorting them to unite, to embrace another life, and to re- 
ceive as gifts from heaven the counsels and instructions which 
they condescended to give by order of their father, the Sun. 
Fascinated by their appearance, and confirmed by the respect 
with which these extraordinary beings inspired them, the wan- 
dering tribes followed them to the valley of Cuzco, where 
they laid the foundation of a city. This region was the central 

* Grarcilasso de la Vega's Royal Commentaries. Vol. I., Book 1, Chap. 
XV. and XVI. 



44 PEEU. 

district of those tribes, and its name, according to Garci- 
lasso, in the language of the Incas, signifies navel ; and it is 
certain, according to the traditions of the natives, that as 
the navel is the source whence the infant receives life and 
growth in the womb, the plane of Cuzco was the nucleus of 
civilization, and the focus of light, for the State, founded by 
Manco- Capac, and Mama- Oello Huaco, as the celestial couple 
were called. 

These children of the Sun established a social union be- 
tween the several Peruvian tribes, combined their united 
forces, enlarged their desires, and gave a new and more ele- 
vated turn to their thoughts. Manco-Capac taught the men 
agriculture, industry, and useful arts. At the same time the 
wise legislator wished to give to them a more solid and en- 
during happiness, by means of adequate laws, a social com- 
pact, and a political system perfectly organized, a minute 
description of which we are compelled at present to pass by, 
that being the object of our latter chapters, while our present 
aim is solely the historical description of the Peruvian em- 
pire. On the other hand, Mama-Oello taught the women 
the art of spinning, weaving, dyeing, and, at the same time, 
the domestic virtues, becoming grace, chastity, and conjugal 
fidelity. 

Such, was the origin of the monarchy of the Incas, children 
of the Sun, and descendants in a direct line from Manco- 
Capac and Mama-Oello. Small in their origin, they ex- 
tended but little distance beyond Cuzco ; but within these 
narrow precincts Manco-Capac exercised an authority with- 
out limits, and the same rights were preserved by his suc- 
cessors, in proportion as they augmented by arms the bounds 
of the empire. The authority of the Inca equalled that of 
the most powerful monarchs of the world. 

To this unlimited power was allied, according to the tra- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 45 

ditions of the Indians, a tender affection for their subjects, 
and a great anxiety for the good of the people ; not making 
conquests to gratify a vain ambition, but from a simple de- 
sire to make the barbarous nations whom they conquered 
participators in the advantages of civilization. 

Thus assures us Garcilasso de la Yega, a descendant 
of the same Incas, whose writings will be the first which we 
shall examine in the brief review which we propose making 
of some of the principal authors who have treated of the Pe- 
ruvian history and archaeology, as much for the purpose of 
searching to the bottom of the traditions and documents which 
it contains, as to guard the reader against the tone of pane- 
gyric of the author, which is quite enough of itself to cause 
him to be distrusted, even were there not other and greater 
grounds for suspicion. Garcilasso de la Yega is, of all 
the writers of Peruvian antiquity, the most important, and he 
who best deserves to fix our attention ; and as being a de- 
scendant of the ancient Peruvian dynasty, none other has 
reached so great celebrity, nor has any been so much quoted 
by more recent historians. 

Our author, the son of Garcilasso de la Yega, (a parti- 
san of Gonzalo Pizarro,) and of one ISTusta, niece of Hu- 
ayna-Capac, and grand-daughter of the Inca, Tupac-Yupan- 
qui, was born in Cuzcoin 1540. A want of culture, conse- 
quent upon the origin of his mother, and the adventurous 
life of the father, caused his education to be neglected until 
he reached the age of eighteen or twenty years. Without 
doubt his natural disposition, and assiduous application after- 
ward, supplied, in part, this want of education. 

The young Garcilasso went to Spain in 1558 or 1560, 
and embraced a military career, distinguishing himself in 
various encounters, and reaching the rank of Captain, under 



46 PERU. 

the command of Don John of Austria ; but the vengeful 
court of Spain did not forget that Garctlasso, the father, 
had embraced the revolutionary side, and followed in all his 
dangerous enterprises Gonzalo-Pizarro, and hence distrust 
rested upon the son, who, in consequence, despairing of ever 
attaining to eminence in his career, or of fixing upon any 
other occupation which seemed suited to his birth, threw up 
his commission and retired to Cordova, where he devoted 
himself to science and literary pursuits. At seventy years 
of age he published the first part of his Royal Commentaries, 
his most important work, and that which at present occupies 
us. This was composed of two hundred and seventy-two 
chapters, divided into nine books, and contains the condition 
of Peru before the Incas, their origin, their history, con- 
quest and laws ; the political and religious customs of the 
different nations which formed the vast empire of Peru ; the 
state of science and the arts under the government of its 
kings, and numerous documents relative to the language, 
geography and natural history of the country. 

The Peruvian origin of Garcilasso, an origin of which 
he was proud, and of which he reminds you every moment, 
the grave confidence with which he details the narrative of 
past events, whether it be concerning the history of his 
country, or relative to the biography of individuals, his 
assiduous labors and seeming impartiality, as resulting from 
his double European and American descent, have gained for 
him general approbation, a unanimous confidence in the 
truth of his relations, universal fame ; and for his work the 
character of the most important monument of ancient Peru- 
vian history ; but notwithstanding all this, a scrupulous and 
conscientious analysis will find him defective under more 
than one head, and a more exacting and severe criticism will 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 47 

pronounce him too credulous, insufficient in his proofs, and 
wanting in that impartiality which a historian of modern 
as well as ancient events requires. 

The sources of Garcilasso's knowledge are principally .- 
the informations of his mother and one of his uncles, and his . 
own observations relative to the customs and religion of his 
countrymen ; all of which he began to note first, when he re- 
tired from the military service ; when without delay he opened 
a correspondence with some friends of his, who inhabited 
Peru, for the purpose of acquiring additional information, 
and of refreshing his memory. His work was published in 
Lisbon, in 1609, fifty years after the author had left his 
country ; but the manuscript was completed in 1570 or 1575, 
an epoch when it was natural that the descendant of the 
Incas should find a difficulty in publishing it in Spain. 

The most serious fault of Garcilasso is his evident par- 
tiality ; this is the greatest defect of a historian. Daz- 
zled by his royal origin, he made an effort to portray his 
ancestors, the Incas, as ideal monarchs, as great legislators 
and warriors, and to present them under the aspect or 
inventors and protectors of the arts and sciences ; heaping 
encomiums upon them, the monotony of which is continued 
throughout, until the latest periods of his history t in which 
verification is more easy, and the perspective less illusive 
for being nearer. Arrived at the epoch of the Inca Huas- 
car, Garcilasso, nearest relative of this chief, zealously took 
his part, and the ties of relationship blinded his judgment; 
and this single instance is sufficient to prove the little faith 
deserved by a historian who is so partial, and has always so 
little skill when he speaks of his parents and ancestors. 
Another proof is the tenacity with which he defends the ille- 
gal actions of Gonzalo-Pizarro, without other motive than 
that his father fought under the banner of this commander. 



48 PERU. 

We must also notice that the commentaries of Garcilasso 
in several places, are in direct contradiction to the state- 
ments of his predecessors, such as Acosta, Fray Marcos de 
Niza, Pedro Cieza de Leon, Francisco Lopez de Gomara, 
Balboa Zarate, and others, as also to several of his suc- 
cessors; it being easy to convince one's self, by a comparison of 
the text, that the tales and allegations are false, not through 
ignorance, and scantiness of information, but through the 
partiality of the author, who omits or falsifies all which tends 
to oppose his views. As little can it be denied that the 
greater part of the statements of his commentaries want a 
sufficient foundation, and it is necessary to recollect that the 
, whole work is a tissue of compilations of traditions ; and 
the truth of this assertion is evident, if we consider that Gar- 
cilasso inserted, or, to speak more correctly, improved the 
narrations, which from the lips of his parents and of ignorant 
and superstitious Indians he heard in his youth, when the 
mind is incapable of the discernment and ripeness which 
historical analysis requires to separate truth from the fables 
and stories which gather so thickly upon the current of time. 
Add to this that Garcilasso published his work half a cen- 
tury after leaving his country, far from the scene of the 
events he relates ; facts sufficient to make his narrations sus- 
picious to the discerning reader. Finally, young Garcilasso 
did not understand the difficult art of deciphering the Quipos, 
an important deficiency, which neither an abundance of tra- 
ditions nor ingenious conjectures could supply. 

Our object in inserting this notice is to make all readers 
and historians who consult the work of Garcilasso, most 
cautious. 

The arrival of Manco-Capac took place in 1021, of the 
vulgar era, according to the current opinion, and his reign 
lasted forty years. Garcilasso embraced in his narrative a 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 49 

space of some five hundred years, but his chronological no- 
tices want a firm foundation. 

The series of the annals of the Incas presents so much 
confusion and incertitude, the historical references are so de- 
fective, the traditions so contradictory, that to avoid losing 
ourselves in useless digressions, or in sterile and tedious in- 
vestigations, we will present to our readers the following 
catalogue of the Peruvian Monarchs, the authenticity of 
which we cannot vouch for, although it seems to us 
the least defective that we can present under the circum- 
stances. 

I. Manco-Capac began to reign in the year 1021, and died 
in 1062, after reigning 40 years. 

II. Sinchi-Rocca reigned 30 years, from 1062 to 1091. 

III. Lloqque- Yupanqui reigned 35 years, from 1091 to 
1126. 

IY. Mayta-Capac began to reign in 1126, reigned 30 years, 
and died in 1156. 

V. Capac- Yupanqui inherited the power in the year 1156, 
reigned 41 years, and died in 1197. 

VI. Inca-Rocca began to reign in 1197, and died in 1249, 
after having reigned 51 years. 

VII. Yahuar-Huaccac had a reign of 40 years, from 1249 
to 1296 ; seven of these he passed in private life, after hav- 
ing renounced in 1289, in favor of his son Viracocha. 

VIII. Viracocha occupied the throne from the year 1289, 
and died in 1340. This Inca predicted the ruin of the em- 
pire, and the arrival of white and bearded men. His son, 
Inca- Urco, reigned only eleven days, being deposed by the 
nobles of the empire, as a fool, and incapable of governing. 

IX. Titu-Manco- Capac-Pachacutec came to the crown in the 
year 1340, reigned 60 years, and died in 1400, after having 
lived, according to tradition, 103 years. 

a 



50 PERU. 

X. Yupanqui inherited the regal power in the year 1400, 
reigned 39 years, and died in 1439. 

XL Tupac- Yupanqui reigned from the year 1439, and died 
in 1475, after 36 years' reign. 

XII. Huayna- Capac succeeded Tupac- Yupanqui, in the 
year 1475, reigned 50 years, and died in 1525. This chief was 
considered the most glorious of all the Peruvian monarchs.* 

XIII. Huascar received the crown in 1526, reigned seven 
years, and died in 1532. 

XIY. Atahuallpa, or Atavaliva, began to reign in the year 
1532, governed the whole empire for one year and four 
months, after having reigned six years, in Quito only, and 
died on the scaffold, by order of Pizarro, in the public 
square of Cajamarca, the 29th of August, in the year 1533. 

After the conquest of the Spaniards, the brother of both 
the preceding monarchs was crowned as Manco-Capac II.; 
who reigned with a light shadow of royal dignity until the 
year 1553. He was succeeded by his three sons, Sayri- Tupac, 
Cusititu- Yupanqui and Tupac- Amaru. This last was be- 
headed in Cuzco, in the year 1571, by order of Don Fran- 
cisco de Toledo, fifth Viceroy of Peru. 



* According to the Canon, Dr. D. Justo Sahuaraura of Cuzco, who 
pretends to springfromthe Inca Huatna-Capac; by a succession of blood, 
the descendants of Manco-Capac form the Ayllo Raurahua ; those of 
Sinchi-Rocoa, the Ayllo Chima-Panaca; those of Lloqque-Yupanqui, the 
Ayllo Hudhuanina ; those of Mayta-Capac, the Ayllo Usca-Mayla ; those 
of Capac- Yupanqui, the Ayllo Apumayta-Panaca- Urin- Cosco ; those of 
Inca-Eocca, the Ayllo Huicca- Qquirau-Panaca-Hanan- Cosco ; those of 
Yahuar-Huaccac, the Ayllo Huaccaylli-Panaca ; those of Huiraccocha- 
Inca, the Ayllo Sucso-Panaca ; those of the Inca-Pachacutec, the Ayllo 
Caeca- Cosco, Analiuarques ; those of the Inca Yupanqui, the Ayllo Inca- 
Panaca ; those of Tupac- Yupanqui, the Ayllo Capac-Panaca ; those of 
Huayna-Capac, the Ayllo Tumipampa. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 51 

Passing by Father Acosta, and other authors who began 
the line of Peruvian monarehs, with Inca-Rocca, we will pro- 
ceed to examine the memorials of the ancient history of Peru, 
by the licentiate, Fernando-Montesinos, which is the second 
work worthy of fixing our attention. The author, a native 
of Osona, in Spain, visited Peru a century after the conquest, 
at two different times, and travelled fifteen years through the 
viceroyalty, devoting himself with great eagerness to the 
ancient history of the empire of the Incas, collecting all the 
traditions and songs of the natives, gathering knowledge from 
the most learned Indians relative to past events, profiting 
by the unpublished manuscripts, compiled under the direction 
of F. Luis-Lopez, bishop of Quito, (consecrated in 1588), 
and studying antiquities with so much zeal, that none 
equalled him in archaeological knowledge. At the beginning 
of the second half of the seventeenth century, he completed his 
manuscript upon the ancient history of Peru, which was depos- 
ited in the library of the convent of San Jose de Sevilla. 
Some 200 years afterward (in 1846) these memorials came 
to light, but in French, and only in an extract which was 
published in Paris, by M. Ternaux-Compans, a distin- 
guished editor of voyages, narratives or relations, and original 
memorials, to serve for a history of the discovery of Ameri- 
ca. Simultaneously with the memorials Montesinos com- 
posed another work, entitled Peruvian Annals, a work 
which, until now, has never been published. The memo- 
rials of this author treat of the ancient history of Peru, in a 
mode so original and distinct from all others, that we can 
easily perceive it to be a production alike novel and unknown. 
He began with his favorite hypothesis, and devoted to it the 
first part of his book, i. e., that Peru was the county of 
Ophir, of the time of Solomon, and that America was peo- 
pled by repeated emigrations coming from Armenia. Five 



52 PERU- 

hundred years after the deluge began the catalogue of the 
monarchs, whose names are quoted by Montesinos, who 
gives, also, the ages at which they respectively died, and the 
most memorable events of their reigns. The catalogue 
which he presents ascends to a hundred and one monarchs 
previous to the conquest of the country by the Spaniards. 

The work of Montesinos being but very slightly known, we 
do not judge it superfluous to give here a brief extract from it, 
in the exposition of a chronological table of the kings, ac- 
cording to our author. 

I. Pishua-Manca reigned sixty years, and died at more 
than one hundred years of age. 

Peru, says Montesinos, was populated five hundred years 
after the deluge. Its first inhabitants flowed in abundantly 
towards the valley of Cuzco, conducted by four brothers, 
named Ayai'-Manco-Topa, Ayar-Cachi-Topa, Ayar-Auca-Topa, 
and Ayar- Uchu- Topa, who were accompanied by their sisters 
and wives, named Mama- Cora, Hipa-Huacum, Mama-Huacum, 
and Pilca-Huacum. The eldest of the brothers mounted to 
the summit of a ridge, and threw with his sling a stone to 
each of the four quarters of the world, thus taking pos- 
session of the soil for himself and his family. He afterward 
gave a name to each one of the quarters which he had reach- 
ed with his sling, calling that beyond the south Colla, beyond 
the north Tahua % beyond the EAST Antisuyu, beyond the 
west Contisuyu, and for that reason the Indians called their 
kings Tahuantin~/Suyu--Capac, i. e. Lords of the four quarters 
of the globe. The younger of the brothers, who, according 
to tradition, was at the same time the most skilful and hardy, 
wishing to enjoy alone the plenitude of power, rid himself of 
two of his brothers, by enclosing one of them in a cave, and 
throwing the other into a deep hole and thus caused the 
thhxj to fly to a distant province. The fratricide consoled 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 53 

his sisters, and told them that they must consider him as the 
only child or son of the Sun, and obey him as such. He 
commanded his kinsmen to level the ground and make houses 
of stone ; such was the origin of the city of Cuzco.* The 
neighboring nations followed the example of the vassals or 
subjects of Ayar-Uchu-Topa, and founded populations in 
the vicinity of this city. For sixty years did this first king 
govern, (whom Indian traditions also called Puhua-Manco), 
leaving the throne to his eldest son, the fruit of his union 
with his sister, Mama-Cora. 

II. Manco- Capac I. 

The princes of the adjacent nations dreading the power of 
Manco-Capac, solicited his alliance, and to accomplish this 
object they proposed to him to take for a wife the daughter 
of the chief among them. The monarch consented, but 
while they were making preparations for the wedding feasts, 
they received the news that a numerous multitude were ap- 
proaching Cuzco, from the side of Arica and the Collas, 
[or South.] Manco-Capac marched without delay to repel 
the foreign invasion, notwithstanding they sent him deputies 
assuring him that they had no evil intentions, and only 
- begged for land to cultivate, and pasture for their cattle. 
The Peruvian monarch assigned them the provinces of the 
North ; many went to Pomacocha, Quinoa, Huaytara, 
and Chachapoyas ; some embarked on the Apurimac and 
Maranon. Traditions call this foreign horde Atumuru- 

NAS. 

III. Huainaevi-Pishua reigned 50 years, and died at the 
age of 90. 

Having obtained possession of a son of his, together with 

* Montesinos supposes that the name of Cuzco is derived from Cosca, 
an Indian word, which signifies to level ; or, from those heaps of earth, 
called coscos, which were found in the environs. 



54 PERU. 

his nurse, the neighboring nations wished to put him to 
death ; the child wept two drops of blood, and the enemies, 
alarmed, restored him to his father, and established peace. 
Huaynacavi afterward married Mama-Micay, the daughter 
of Huillaco, lord of a village in the country of Lucay. 
During his reign was known the use of letters, and the 
amautas taught astrology and the art of writing on leaves of 
the plantain tree.* 

IV. Sinchi- Gozque reigned 60 years, and lived more than a 
hundred. 

This sovereign, also called Pachacuti, because he reigned 
a thousand years after the deluge, was as wise as he was 
valiant ; he conquered his enemies in a bloody battle near 
the village of Michina, fortified and adorned the city of Cuz- 
co, and invented the species of carriage or vehicle called 
Llam adores. 

V. Inti- Capac- Yupanqui lived more than a hundred years, 
and reigned more than sixty. 

He was the younger son of Sinchi-Cozque, and when 
young conquered, in a hard-fought battle, Huaman-Huaroca 
and Huacos-Huaroca, both brothers and valiant chiefs, of the 
nation of the Antihuaylas, who had taken possession of the 
provinces of Contisuyu, Tucaysuyu, Collasuyu, and of 
the Chirihuanas, and threatened the city of Cuzco.f 

This monarch was no less wise in peace than powerful in 
war. He was also very zealous for religion and the worship 
of the supreme gods, lllatici-Huiracocha and the Sun. He 
also divided Cuzco into two parts: Hanan-Cuzco andllurin- 
Cuzco, and the nation into hundreds or pachacas ; each centu- 

* The amautas are explained hereafter. — [Translator.] 
t Monteslnos says that all that which Garcilasso relates of this victory- 
is false. According to Garcilasso, Capac-Yupanqui reigned from 1156 
to 1197; according to Montesinos, 1100 years after the deluge. 



PERUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 55 

rion commanded a hundred men, each huaranco a hundred 
centurions, one hunu to a hundred huarancos, and all were 
made subject to the tocricoc, who depended solely upon the 
king. Each province was obliged to distinguish itself by 
certain personal signals in each one of its component mem- 
bers, and the infants were obliged to perforate the ears and 
wear rings of gold or silver. 

To this same sovereign did his subjects owe their Chas- 
quis or couriers for posting to the most distant provinces, as 
also the institution of the solar year into 365 days, and the 
division of the years into circles of tens, hundreds and thou- 
sands, from which came at last the name Intip-Huatan or 
Capac-Hesata (great solar year). 

YI. Manco-Capac II. 

He commanded to be opened or made great roads of com- 
munication from Cuzco to the provinces, bridges over the 
largest rivers, and tambos or stopping-places at every four 
leagues for travellers. At the same time he commanded 
the priests of Illiatici-Huiracocha to live in cloisters and 
in a state of chastity, and caused edifices to be constructed 
for the priestesses of the Sun". 

During his reign appeared two comets, and there were two 
eclipses of the sun which frightened the population of Peru. 
Unfortunately their fears were not all idle, for a frightful 
plague occurred which desolated the provinces, and almost 
depopulated the capital of Cuzco. 

VII. Topa-Capacl. 

He retired to the Andes to escape the plague, lived for 
some time among the mountains, and returned afterward to 
Cuzco, where there was great disorder. 

VIII. Titu- Capac- Yupanqid. 

After having appeased a revolution he relinquished the 
throne, being already advanced in years, to his son. 



56 PERU. 

IX. Titu-Capac-Amauri, who lived 80 years. 

He conquered the provinces of Collas and Charcas. 

X. Capac-Say-Huacapar reigned 60 years, and lived 90. 

XI. Capesinia- Yupanqui reigned more than 40 years, and 
lived 90 ; was a religious prince, and constructed many 
Huacas, [sacred places.] 

XII. Ayatarco-Cupo reigned 25 years. 

Giants having entered Peru, they populated Huaytara, 
Quinoa, Punta de Santa Helena, and Puertoviejo, and built a 
sumptuous temple in Pachacamac, using instruments of 
iron. As they were given up to sodomy, divine wrath anni- 
hilated them with a rain of fire, although a part of them 
were enabled to escape by going to Cuzco. Ayatarco-Cupo 
went out to meet them, and dispersed them about Limatambo. 

XIII. Huascar-Titu reigned 30 years, and lived 64, dy- 
ing at a time when it was proposed to make war with the 
Chimus. 

XIY. Quispi-Tutu reigned three years, and lived 60. 

XV. Tilu- Yupanqiu, or Pachacuti II., died at a very ad- 
vanced age. He suppressed a military revolution, and re- 
duced the feasts and revels of the Indians. 

XVI. Titu- Capac reigned 25 years. 

XVII. Paullu-Icar-Pirhua reigned 30 years. 

XVIII. Lloqueti-Sacamcmta, a very wise prince, reigned 
50 years. 

XIX. Cayo-Manco-Arnauta died at 90 years of age. 

XX. Huascar-Tilupac II. reigned 33 years, and died at 75 
years of age. 

He gave to all the provinces new governors of royal blood. 
He introduced in the army a species of cuirass composed of 
cotton and copper, and a shield of leaves of the plantain-tree 
and cotton, as a distinction and a protection for the bravest 
soldiers, to whom he gave other arms and dresses, and grant- 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 57 

ed them numerous privileges. He finally established a coun- 
cil of twenty old men of royal blood. 

XXI. Manco-Capac-Amauta IV. 

This chief was addicted to astronomy, and convened a 
scientific meeting, in which they agreed that the sun was 
found to be at a greater distance than the moon, and that 
both followed different courses. At the same time he fixed 
the beginning of the year at the summer equinox. 

XXII. Ticatua reigned 30 years. 

XXIII. Paullu-Toto-Capac reigned 19 years. 

XXIV. Cao-Manco reigned 30 years. 

XXV. Marasco-Pachacuti reigned 4:0 years, and lived double 
that space of time. This prince conquered the barbarians re- 
cently come to Peru, in a bloody combat, and strengthened 
the garrisons as far as the banks of the Eimac and the Hua- 
nuco. Zealous in religion, he opposed the progress of idolatry, 
and published several decrees favorable to the worship of his 
predecessors. 

XXVI. Paullu-Atauchi-Gapac died at 70 years of age. 

XXVII. Lluqui-Yupanqui reigned 10 years, and died at 
30 years of age. 

XXVIII. Lluqui-Ticcbc died at the same age, after having 
reigned 8 years. 

XXIX. Capac- Yapanqui reigned 50 years, and died at 80 
years of age. He was a celebrated jurisconsult. 

XXX. Topa-Yupanqui reigned 30 years, and died at a 
very advanced age. 

XXXI. Manco-Avito-Pachacuti, or Pachacuti IV., reigned 
50 years. 

He was a very warlike prince, and commanded them to 
begin the year with the winter equinox. 

XXXII. Sinchi-Apusqui reigned 40 years, and died at 80 
years of age, 2070 after the deluge. He ordered them to 

a* 



call the Pirhua gods lllatici-Huiracoclia, and for this reason 
did the Indians give this king the name of Huarma-Huira- 
cocha. 

XXXIII. A.uqui- Quitua- Chauchi reigned four years. 

XXXIY. Ayay-Manco died at 60 years of age. 

This monarch gathered together in Cuzco the Amautas to 
reform the calendar, who decided among themselves, that the 
year should be divided into months of 30 days, and weeks of 
ten days, calling the five days at the end of the year a small 
week. They also collected the years into decades or groups 
of tens, and into groups of ten decades, or one hundred years, 
which form one sun or century. The half of a sun, or space 
of 50 years, was called Pachacuti. 

XXXV. Huiracocha- Capac II. reigned 15 years. 

XXXYI. Chinchi-Rocca-Amauta reigned 20 years. 

He was a monarch very much devoted to astrology. 

XXXVTI. Amauro-Amauta. 

He was so melancholy a prince, that none ever saw him 
laugh. 

XXXVIII. Capac- Ray mi- Amauta. 

Celebrated for his astronomical knowledge, he knew which 
was the longest, and which the shortest day of the year, 
and when the sun reached the tropics. His vassals, in honor 
of their king, gave to the month of December the name of 
Capac-Raymi. 

XXXIX. llla-Topa reigned three years, and died at 30 years 
of age. 

XL. Topac-Amauri died at the same age. 
XLI. Huana- Cauri II. reigned four years. 
XLII. Toca- Corca-Apu- Capac reigned 45 years, and estab- 
lished a University in Cuzco. 

XLIII. Huancar-Sacri-Topa reigned 32 years. 

XLIV. Hina-Chiulla-Arnauta- Pachacuti reigned 35 years. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 59 

The 5th year of his government corresponds with the year 
2500 after the deluge. 

XLV. Capac- Yupanqui- Amauta reigned 35 years. 

XL VI. Huapar-Sacritopa. 

XLYII. Caco- Manco- Auqui reigned 13 years. 

XL VIII. Hina-Huella reigned 30 years. 

XLIX. Inti- Capac- Amauta reigned 30 years. 

L. Ay ar-Manco- Capac II. 

LI. Yahuar- Huquiz reigned 30 years. 

He was a celebrated astronomer, and intercalated a year at 
the end of four centuries. 

LIT. Capac-Titu- Yupanqui reigned 23 years, and died when 
more than a hundred years of age, of one of those malignant 
diseases [literally smallpox] which desolated the country. 

LIII. Top a- Cur i- Amauta II. reigned 39 years, and died 
when more than 80 years of age. 

LIV. Topa- Curi III. reigned 40 years. 

LV. Huillca-Nbta- Amauta reigned 60 years, and died at 
more than 90 years of age. 

This prince gained a memorable victory in HuiLLCA-lSroTA, 
over several foreign hordes from Tucuman, who had inva- 
ded the country. 

LVI. Topa- Yupanqui reigned 43 years, and died at 90 
years of age. 

LVII. lilac- Topa- Capac reigned four years, 

LVIII. Titu-Raymi- Cozque reigned 31 years. 

LIX. TIuqui-jS T inaqui reigned 43 years. 

LX. Manco- Capac III. reigned 23 years. 

According to the Amautas, this prince reigned in the year 
2950 after the deluge, and consequently at the time of the 
birth of Jesus Christ, an epoch when Peeu had reached her 
highest elevation and extension. 

LXI. Cayo- Manco- Capac II. reigned 20 yerrs. 



60 PERU. 

LXIL Sinchi-Ayar-Manco reigned 7 years. 

LXIII. Huamantaco-Amauta reigned 5 }^ears. During his 
reign they experienced earthquakes that lasted several 
months. 

LXIY. Titu- Yupanqui-Pacliacuti Y. 

In his reign was completed the third millenary cycle since 
the deluge. 

There were several irruptions of foreign hordes, coming 
from Brazil and the Andes, which desolated the country. The 
Inca fortified himself in the mountains of Pucara, and 
fought a bloody battle with the invading enemies, in which, 
after a frightful carnage, the Peruvian monarch fell by an 
arrow ; and the air, corrupted by the miasma of the putrified 
corpses which remained unburied on the field of battle, gene- 
rated a frightful plague, which almost depopulated Peru. 

LXY. Titu. 

Many ambitious ones, taking advantage of the youth of 
the new king, denied him obedience, drew away from him 
the masses, and usurped several provinces. Those who 
remained faithful to the heir of Titu-Yupanqui, conducted 
him to Tambotoco, whose inhabitants offered him obedience. 
Prom this it happened that this monarch took the title of 
king of Tambotoco ; since, like the Roman Empire in the 
time of Galienus, Peru counted many simultaneous tyrants. 
All was found in great confusion, life and personal safety 
were endangered, and civil disturbances caused the entire 
loss of the use of letters. 

LXYI. Cozque-Huaman-Titu reigned 20 years. 

LXYII. Cayo-Manco III. reigned 50 years. 

LXYIII. Huica-Titu reigned 30 years. 

LXIX. Sivi-Topa reigned 40 years. 

LXX. Topa- Yupanqui reigned 25 years. 

LXXI. Huayna-Topa reigned 37 years. 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 61. 

This monarch wished to rebuild the city of Cuzco, but by 
the advice of the priests, he abandoned the undertaking. 

LXXII. Huancauri reigned 10 years. 

LXXIII. Huillca-Huaman reigned 60 years. 

LXXIY. Huaman-Capac. 

LXXY. Auqui-Atahuilque reigned 35 years. 

LXXYI. Manco-Titu- Copra reigned 27 years. 

LXXVII. Huayna-Topa reigned 50 years. 

LXXYIII. Topa- Cauri-Pachacuti YI. 

The ninth year of his reign corresponds with the year 
3500 after the deluge. 

This prince began by conquering some provinces, but did 
not continue the enterprise, finding the inhabitants very 
vicious. He prohibited them, under the severest penalties, 
from making use of the quellca, (a species of parchment of 
plantain leaves,) to write upon, and also prohibited the inven- 
tion of letters ; but introduced the use of the quippos, and 
founded, in Pacabitambo, a military school for knights. 

LXXIX Arantial-Cassi lived 70 years. 

This prince commanded that in the tomb of his father 
should be interred his legitimate wife and favorite concu- 
bines. He also ordered the corpse of his father to be em- 
balmed, when freed from the intestines, which by order of 
the monarch were preserved in golden vases. 

LXXX. Huari-Titu-Capac lived 80 years. 

LXXXI. Huapa-Titu-Auqui died at 70 years of age. 

LXXXII. Tocosque lived 80 years. 

During the reign of this prince the country was invaded by 
savage hordes, coming some from Panama, some from the 
Andes, and some from the Port of Good Hope. These nar 
tions were cannibals, sodomites, lived like brutes, and were 
found wallowing in the greatest state of degradation. 

LXXXIII. Ayar-Manco reigned 22 years. 



62 PERU. 

LXXXIY. Condorocca. 

LXXXY. Ayar-Manco II. died at 24 years of age. 

LXXXVI. Amaru. 

LXXXVIL Chinchirocca reigned 41 years, and lived 70. 
At this period they began to make golden idols. 

LXXXVIII. Illa-Rocca reigned 75 years. 

LXXXIX. Rocca-Titu reigned 25 years. 

XC. Inti-Capac- Maita- Pachacuti VII. 

Daring the reign of this prince was completed the fourth 
millenary cycle since the deluge. Customs were so corrupted, 
vices so abominable, the links of society so decayed, so little 
were the law and the royal power respected, that the country 
bid fair to be destroyed little by little. In this condition a 
princess of royal blood, named Mama-Ciboca, contrived, by 
artifice and intrigue, to raise to the throne her son, called 
Rocca, a youth of 20 years, and so handsome and valiant 
that his admirers called him Inca, which means lord, as the 
Arabs gave the title of Cid, which signifies the same in their 
language, to the bold and handsome Eodrigo de Yivar. This 
title of Inca was finally adopted by the successors to the 
throne of Peru. 

XCI. Inca-Rocca reigned 40 years, and died at 60 years of 
age. 

Young Rocca came from the ridge of Chingana, near Cuzco, 
and presented himself to the Indians as a true son of the 
sun, endeavoring to persuade them of his heavenly origin, 
in which enterprise his astute mother, Mama-Ciboca, was of 
great use to him. The young prince endeavored to reform 
the manners, ordered sodonry to be punished with fire, and 
in order to give his vassals an example of conjugal virtues, 
he contracted nuptials with his sister, Mama- Cora, an exam- 
ple which his people so rapidly followed, that on the day 
after his marriage, more than 6000 persons were married. 



PERUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 63 

He then declared war with the neighboring princes, who 
refused him obedience, and would not acknowledge him a 
child of the sun ; conquered the King of Huancarama, of 
Andahuylas, subjugated the King of the Huillcas, and 
returned triumphant to Cuzco. He commanded them to 
consider the sun as the principal God, and promulgated many 
laws relative to religion and the military state. 

XCIL Inca-Hualloque- Yupanqui. 

He married his sister, Mama-C hahua. 

From his brother Manco-Capac, comes the family of the 
Raucas-Panacas. 

XCIII. Inca- May -Tacapaca. 

He contracted a marriage with his sister, Mama-Tanca- 
Riachu. His younger brother, Aputaca, was a branch of the 
family of the Illochibainin, and his second son, Putano- Uman, 
of the family of the Uscamaytas. 

XCIV. Inca- Capac- Yupanqui. 

He married his sister, Mama- Corilpa- Ychaca, and had four 
sons — Sinchi-Pocca-Inca, Apoc-Colla- Unapiri, Apu-Chancay, 
and Chima-Chavin, from whom descended the Apu-Maytas 
of Cuzco. 

His brother, Putano- Uman, formed a conspiracy against 
him, but the Inca, forewarned of it, caused the traitor to be 
interred alive, and threw the other conspirators into a ditch 
tilled with serpents, tigers, and lions. 

XCY. Inca-Sinchi-Rocca lived 90 years. 

He took for a wife his sister, Mama-Micay. He conquered, 
in a bloody battle, one league from Andahuylas, the king of 
,the Canchas, and made a triumphal entry into Cuzco, with a 
splendor never before seen. 

He had four sons — May ta- Yupanqui, Mayta-Capac, Hua- 
man-Tacsi, and Huiraquira, a branch of the Huiraquiras. 

XCVI. Inca-Yahuar-Huaccac or Mayta-Tupanqui. 



64 PERU. 

The fruits of his marriage with his sister, Mama-Cochaqui* 
ela, were six sons — Huiracocha, Paucariali, Pahuac-Huallpa- 
mayta, Marcayutu, Yupa-Paucar, and Cincar-JRocca, from 
whom descended the Aucay-Lipaunacas, and who was a con- 
queror of the Chancas. 

This Inca suffered all his life from an affection of the eyes, 
which were always inflamed, and for this reason, his subjects 
said he wept blood, and called him Yahuar-Huaccac. 

XCVIL Inca-Topa-Yupanqui, called Huiracocha, on ac- 
count of his extraordinary actions ; he lived 75 years, and 
reigned 45. 

He married his sister, Mama-Euntucay, and made a cam- 
paign to Chili, where he installed, as governors, two of his 
nephews, and caused to be constructed a royal road from 
Chirihuanas, to the pass, crossing the whole country of Chili. 
He then passed to the north, conquered the Canar Indians, 
those of Quito, the Atarunos, Sichos and Lampatos, and 
still beyond these, the Chonos, inhabitants of the province 
of Guayaquil, and the Princes of the Isle of Puna, also the 
Chimus, on his return to Cuzco. He repaired the temple of 
Pachacamac, and during his reign were experienced great 
earthquakes and two irruptions of the volcanoes of Quito, 
one in front of Paucallo, and another in front of the moun- 
tains of Oyumbicho. 

XCVIII. Inca-Topa-Yupanqui II. reigned 20 years, and 
died at 50 years of age. 

He married his sister, Caya-Mama-Ocho, and reduced to 
obedience the Chimus, who had rebelled anew, forbidding 
the use of necessary water for the irrigation of their fields. 

XCIX. Inca-Inticusi-HuaUpa, called also Huaynacapac, on 
account of his beauty and prudence. 

After having contracted a matrimonial alliance with hi? 
sister, Coya-Bahua- Ozoltoj he marched to the province of 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 65 

Chachapoyas, sent troops by the river Moyobamba, and almost 
entirely annihilated the nation of the Palcas. He soon after- 
ward reduced to obedience the Indians of the river Quispe, 
commanded by a woman called Quilago. Finally, after a 
troublesome battle, he completely routed the Prince of Coyam- 
ba, on the banks of the Lake of Yahuarcocha. 

C. Inca-lnticusi-Huallpa-Huascar. 

Montesinos assures us that the name of Huascar was given 
to this Inca by his foster mother, and declares to be apocry- 
phal the stofry of Garcilasso and other historians, touching 
the chain of gold which was made in honor of his birth. 

01. Inca- Huay par- Titu- Yupanqui-Atahuallpa. 

Montesinos deduces the surname of this prince from the 
words : atahu, virtue, strength, and allpa, good, gentle. (!) 

From this exposition, we see that the work of Montesinos 
cannot stand analysis. It will be at once noticed that the 
foundation on which the author erects his history, i. e. the 
identity of Peru with the country of Ophir, and the contin- 
ued communication of Armenia with the New World, is a 
gratuitous hypothesis, and simply an exposition of the his- 
torical investigations of the Spanish authors who occupied 
themselves, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with 
the subject of the discovery of America. But further, the 
memorials of Montesinos present so manv contradictions, so 
many chronological errors, and such manifest incorrectness, 
that it is only with the utmost precaution and much distrust 
that such documents can be made use of at all. In spite of 
his erudition, and the large amount of knowledge which his 
earnest search could gather during his long residence in 
Peru, his history does not present a character worthy of 
credit, and the succession of Peruvian monarchs seems very 
arbitrary. Doubtless, in the later periods of Peruvian his- 
tory, the relations of Montesinos present a degree of authen- 



00 PERU. 

ticity superior to that of Garcilasso de la Vega; and in 
spite of his errors and defects, these memorials form an im- 
portant element in the historic literature of Peru. 

It now remains for us but to mention a third work upon 
Peruvian antiquity, and it is the History of the Conquest of 
Peru, by the celebrated American writer, W. H. Prescott, 
who, possessing the incomparable advantage of having at his 
command more materials than any other historian, and mak- 
ing use of them with the sound judgment and exquisite ele- 
gance which characterize him, gives us, with unequalled skill, 
perfect system, and brilliant coloring, an animated account of 
the state of Peru before the conquest, of the degree of civi- 
lization to which the nation had attained under the dynasty 
of the Incas, and of the form of government of these mon- 
archs. We feel it beyond measure as a great privation, 
that many ancient manuscripts, which throw a brilliant light 
upon the obscure centuries of Peruvian antiquity, should be 
known to us only through the quotations of Prescott, and we 
do not doubt, that for archaeologists and antiquarians, the 
relations of Sarmiento, Ondegardo, Betanzos, would possess 
inexpressible interest, as would, also, the anonymous memo- 
rials upon the discovery and the conquest, and the docu- 
ments upon the inscriptions, medals, antiquities, &c. 

In the first chapter of our work, we have fully expressed 
our opinion concerning the great Peruvian reformer, known 
under the traditional name of Manco-Capac. It is not to be 
questioned that there existed in Peru, previous to his arrival, 
a certain degree of culture, but the problem remains to be 
solved (though it may be perhaps forever impossible), what 
was the origin of this culture? Was it a successive, pro- 
gressive manifestation of the mind of the aboriginal nations, 
or rather transplanted from another soil ? It is certain that 
this culture failed, and decayed rapidly before the new re- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 67 

forming era had begun. The acute skill, and exact know- 
ledge of the soil in which he was going to construct his new 
edifice, induced the reformer to take for a foundation the 
previous decayed cultivation ; and it is owing to this that we 
meet, especially in the religious worship, with heterogeneous 
elements, unconnected among themselves, although mixed, 
which attest without doubt the attentive and profound ob- 
server ; which show the wisdom with which he knew how to 
unite them so ingeniously ; while the progress which the 
organization of the monarchy produced, and its free advance- 
ment, argue the simplicity and perspicacity with which those 
political and religious laws were established. 

The general opinion is that the Incas descend directly from 
Manco-Capac. All the traditions relate that this person 
was distinguished from the natives by his physiognomy and 
the clear color of his complexion ; and although the majority 
of historians attribute to all the Incas these personal quali- 
ties, nothing certain do we know on this head ; yet do 
we see that some modern travellers pretend that the de- 
scendants of the royal family were distinguished from the 
other Indians by their physical aspect. Our minute and 
recent investigations go to prove that the Incas do not derive 
their origin from the legislator above named (be his name 
Manco-Capac or any other) by a succession of blood, but 
from a native family established in the royal dignity by the 
stranger reformer. According to this hypothesis, Inca-Eocca 
was the first Indian autocrat and stock of the Ayllo of the 
Peruvian monarchs. We well know that on this point pro- 
bably Ave never shall reach undoubted truth ; but this 
opinion is the result of such a critical study of the history 
as does not lend a blind faith to tradition, but endeavors to 
penetrate into the connection of motives and historical 
effects. 



68 PERU. 

The traditions of the Indians and the opinions of the his- 
torians relative to the origin of the Incas and their arrival at 
Peru, differ much among themselves ; some of them there 
are which, by their simplicity and verisimilitude, cannot fail 
to satisfy, while there are others which by their silliness, ar- 
bitrary assertions, and historical improbability, do not deserve 
the slightest credit, and shock at first sight. Such as, for 
instance, the one which makes an English sailor the legis- 
lator of Peru. I deem it best to relate the origin of this 
opinion, in order to prove how much a want of sense or 
desire of originality may lead one astray. An English sailor, 
eight centuries ago, was shipwrecked on the coast of Peru, 
(so runs the story.) A prince, who chanced to be on the 
banks of the sea, asked him who he was, and the sailor 
answered in his own tongue, " Englishman" a word which, 
in his quichua pronunciation, the prince repeated Ingasman ; 
and, the Englishman being very fine looking, the prince, in 
speaking of him to his companions, added Ingasman- Capac, 
(the handsome Englishman ;) and thus the stranger retained 
the name of Ingasman- Capac, which in time grew into Inga- 
Manco- Cajoac. This apocryphal and ridiculous story suffices 
to show the poverty and nullity of the historical account pre- 
tended to be founded on it. According to some authors, it 
took place before the restoration of the government of the In- 
cas, and was a work of the English ;* since that work, a certain 
Don Antonio Berreo amrmsf that among other prophecies 

* Walter Raleigh, in the description of his voyage to Guiana, (fol. 97, 
page 8, of the America of Theodore Bry.) See also the prologue to the 
second edition of the Commentaries of G-arcilasso de la Vega, written by 
Don Gabriel de Cardenas, 1723. 

t Deum ego testor, mihi a Don Antonio de Berreo affirmatum, quem- 
admodum etiam ab aliis cognovi, quod in prsecipuo ipsorum templo inter 
alia vaticinia, quae de amissione regni loquuntur, hoc enim sit, quod dici- 
tur fore ut Ingaa sive Imperatores et reges Peruvias ab aliquo populo, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 69 

preserved in the principal temple of Cuzco, relative to the 
destruction of the empire, was one affirming that the Incas 
■would be re-established in their empire by certain people 
who should come from a country 3alled Inclaterra. 

It is superfluous to add that such a prophecy never existed, 
and that all this relation is a clumsily forged imposture. 

The most eminent period of the dynasty of the Incas is 
the reign of Huayna-Capac, who died seven years before the 
arrival of the Spaniards, after having governed half a cen- 
tury. The warlike and civil works of so noted a sovereign 
deserve to be recorded by an eloquent pen, and his biography, 
compiled with the necessary circumspection, would throw 
more light upon the ancient Peruvian history than all the 
memorials, relations and commentaries which embrace so 
many indigestible folios, filled with contradictions, errors 
and fables. Under the dominion of Huayna-Capac, the em- 
pire attained to its greatest height and prosperity, and 
extended from the river Andasmayo, at the north of Quito, 
to the river Maule, in Chili, i. e. embracing a distance of 
more than forty geographical degrees, or eight hundred 
leagues, (which surpassed by some degrees the greatest 
extent of Europe,) and, bounded in all its western extent by 
the Pacific Ocean, extended to the pampas of Tucuman, on 
the southeast, and to the rivers Ucayali and Maranon on 
the northeast. This vast empire contained of itself ten 
or eleven millions of inhabitants, a number which rapidly 
diminished after the conquest, as, in the year 1580, the gene- 
ral census, made by order of Philip II., by the Archbishop 
Loaiza, does not show more than 8,280,000 souls.* 

qui ex regione quadam, quae Inclaterra vocetur, regnum suum rursus in- 
troducantur. 

* The computation of Father Cisneros, in 1579, amounted to 1,500,000 
inhabitants, but only of individual tributaries ; and Humboldt was doubt- 
ful in taking this number for the sum total of the inhabitants of Peru. 



70 PERU. 

Nevertheless, the population diminished in the course of 
time to less than one half, and in the main we may admit 
that the valleys of the Peruvian coast contain positively but 
the tenth part, or even less, of what they contained in the 
time of the Incas. The valley of Santa, for instance, held 
700,000 souls, and at the present day, the number of its in- 
habitants does not amount to 1200. According to Father 
Melendez, were found, shortly after the conquest, in the 
parish of Aucallama, of the province of Chancay, 30,000 
individuals paying tribute or taxes — that is, men of more 
than eighteen or twenty years — and at present they number 
only 425 inhabitants, and among them 320 slaves. 

We will conclude these considerations with a wish that the 
ancient history of Peru may find a historian as eminent as 
the history of its conquest has found in Mr. Prescott. Would 
that a patriotic government would aid in such an important 
enterprise ! 



NOTE. 



It is a fact as gratifying as it is singular, that a work, one of the authors 
of which is of Spanish descent, and, as we believe, a native of Peru, 
should yield to our distinguished countryman, Mr. Prescott, the honor, 
not merely of possessing the best materials for illustrating truly the his- 
tory of Peru, but the still greater honor of having so used them as justly 
to take precedence of all other writers on the conquest of that interesting 
country. 

Indeed, concerning the original authorities from which the historian of 
Peru must take his facts, the previous chapter furnishes very scanty in- 
formation; while on this head, as on every other he has touched, Mr. 
Prescott's work leaves nothing to be desired, and very little to be added. 

As the subject of the chapter, however, is the ancient history of Peru, 
perhaps the best service we can render is to direct the attention of the 
reader to such productions, commented on by Mr. Prescott, as may enable 
him, if so disposed, to resort to more abundant and better materials than 
those suggested by our authors. 

Garcilasso de la Vega. An admirably just and discriminating notice of 
this writer will be found in Mr. Prescott's Conquest of Peru, vol. I., p. 
293. Our authors have objected to G-arcilasso that he did not know how 
to decipher the Quippus; Mr. Prescott states expressly that he did 
(p. 295). 

Fernando Montesinos. Our readers will probably have seen enough of 
this writer, in the text, to satisfy them that his account of the early his- 
tory of Peru is of very little or no value. He had, however, opportuni- 
ties of knowing something of its later history, and on that subject may 
sometimes be advantageously consulted. Mr. Prescott has furnished an 
account of him and his writings on p. 78 of the first volume of his work 
on Peru. Ternaux Compans has translated the " Memorias Antiguas." 

Pedro Pizarro. He was related to Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror, 

(71) 



72 PERU. 

and went to Peru, about 1529, at the age of fifteen, in the suite of his 
kinsman. He wrote : ' Relaciones del Desciibrimiento y Conquista de los 
Reynos del Peru" of which Mr. Prescotthad a manuscript copy, furnished 
by Navarrete, who subsequently published it in his collection. For an 
account of the author and his work, see Prescott's Peru, Vol. I., p. 76. 

Pedro Cieza de Leon. He wrote " Cronica del Peru" having come to 
America at the age of thirteen.. This is a valuable book — though part, 
only, of an unfinished work — for the history of which the reader may 
turn to Mr. Prescott's first volume, p. 327. 

Gonzalo Fernandez Oviedo. He wrote u Natural e General Historia de 
las Indias" which Mr. Prescott has in manuscript. It has not been pub- 
lished entire. Ramusio (as Mr. Prescott states) has published a part, and 
so also has Barcia. See Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico," Vol. II., p. 
293, and " Conquest of Peru," Vol. II., p. 326. 

Augustin de Zarate. His history of Peru was published first at Ant- 
werp, in 1555, and afterward at Seville, in 1577. An English translation 
by Nicholas, was published in London, in 1581. It was reprinted from 
the Spanish by Barcia, in his collection, Vol. III. For an account of the 
author, and the value of his work, see Prescott's Peru, Vol. II., p. 471. 

Diego Fernandez de Palentino. He was a private soldier in Peru, but 
appears to have possessed an education above his station. See Prescott's 
Peru, Vol. II., p. 473. 

Juan de Sarmiento. His work, which exists in manuscript only, is pos- 
sessed by Mr. Prescott. It is entitled u Relacion de la sucesion y govierno 
de las Yngas Senores naturales que fueron de las Provincias del Peru, y 
otras cosas tocantes a aquel Reyno." It is particularly valuable, Mr. Pres- 
cott states, on the institutions of the Peruvians. Prescott's Peru, Vol. I. 
p. 175. 

Polo de Ondegardo. The work of this author, who was a jurist, like the 
last named, exists in manuscript only. Mr. Prescott gives ; ,t a high cha- 
racter. See " Peru," Vol. I., p, 177. 

Antonio deHerr era. He wrote u Historia General de las Indias Occiden- 
tales" and drew largely, Mr. Prescott says, from the manuscript work of 
Ondegardo, mentioned above, as he did also from the " History of the In- 
dies," by Las Casas, bishop of Chiapa. For a full account of Herrera 
and his writings, see Prescott's Mexico, Vol. II., p. 94. 

Francisco Lopez de Gomara. His works are, "Historia General de las 
Indias" and " Cronica de la Nueva Espana" Barcia has incorporated 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 73 

both into his collection, of which they form the second volume. The 
" Cronica" was also translated into Aztec, of which a copy exists in 
Mexico, under the title of the " Chronicle of Chimalpain." See Pres- 
cott's Mexico, Vol. II., p. 175. 

To these we take the liberty of adding — 

Juan Melendez. " Tesoros Verdaderos de las Tndias del Peru" Printed 
in Rome, 1681-2. Three vols., folio. 

Buenaventura de Salinas. " Memorial de las Uistorias del Nuevo Mundo 
Piru." Lima, 1630. Quarto. 

Francisco de Xerez. " Verdadera Relacion de la Conguista del Peru" 
Printed in Barcia's third volume 

4 



CHAPTEE IV. 

THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL INSTITU- 
TIONS OF THE INCAS. 

It is not our object to explain circumstantially all that 
belongs to the government and administration of the ancient 
Peruvian territory ; but to give greater clearness to the chap- 
ters which are to succeed, we cannot do less than offer to our 
readers a brief sketch of the political organization of the 
empire of the Incas. 

The authority of the Peruvian monarchs exceeded, as we 
have already hinted in our preceding chapter, that of the 
most powerful kings of the earth. Their will was the su- 
preme law — no council of state, no ministry or institution 
whatsoever, could limit the power of the sovereign ; and if 
some among them were accustomed to consult the wise 
ancients, it was only through deference, or for their own pri- 
vate good, and not by any organic law of the dynasty. The 
Inca was the master of the life and estates of his vassals, 
and was considered, throughout his vast empire, as the su- 
preme arbiter of all creatures breathing the air or living 
in the waters. " The very birds will suspend their flight, 
if I command it," said Atahuallpa to the Spaniards, in 
his hyperbolical language. 

Moreover, the monarchs of Peru, considered as children 
of the Sun, and descendants, in a direct line, from Manco- 

(74) 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 75 

Capao, were the high priests and oracles in religions matters. 
Thus uniting the legislative and executive power, the supreme 
command in war, absolute sovereignty in peace, and a vene- 
rated high-priesthood in religious feasts, they exercised the 
highest power ever known to man — realized in their persons 
the famous union of the Pope and the Emperor, and more 
reasonably than Louis XI Y., might have exclaimed: u lam 
the State /" 

We may characterize the form of government as a theo- 
cratical autocracy. Clothed with dignity so complex and so 
elevated, we cannot consider singular the blind obedience 
which was rendered to the sovereign by his subjects, and the 
profound humility with which they approached his person. 
Add to this that the celestial descent of the Inca caused him 
not only to be obeyed as absolute monarch and a venera- 
ble high priest, but also to be respected as a deity; his per- 
son was holy, his corpse was guarded sacredly, and his memo- 
ry religiously respected. 

This innate veneration was increased by severe laws : 
thus, the first magnates of the empire did not dare to appear 
shod in the presence of the Inca ; the chief lords came to 
the audiences with a light bundle, in token of submission, 
and the masses were obliged to pull off their shoes and 
stockings, and uncover their heads, when they approached 
the street in which the royal palace stood. The other mem- 
bers of the royal family participated in the universal respect, 
but in a smaller degree than the monarch and his august 
spouse, who was, excepting her royal consort, the most 
respected person in the kingdom. 

Notwithstanding all this, if we believe Garcilasso de la 
Vega, the government of the Incas was paternal, and all the 
members of the dynasty, without exception, were filled with 
tender solicitude for their subjects, with whom they were 



76 PEKU. 

accustomed to mix, in spite of their hierarchy, inquiring 
into the condition of the inferior classes, seeing that they 
should want for nothing, and that,' in as far as it was pos- 
sible, all the members of their vast empire should enjoy con- 
tentment and abundance. They also condescended to preside 
at certain religious festivities, and on these occasions offered 
banquets to the nobility, in which, according to the usage of 
European nations, they pledged the health of those persons 
for whom they felt the greatest affection ; a custom truly 
extraordinary, and which we are surprised to meet with 
among the American Indians. Moreover, they were accus- 
tomed to travel through their dominions to acquaint them- 
selves with the complaints of their subjects, or to regulate 
matters which the lower tribunals had submitted to their 
decision. From all parts, the multitude hastened to contem- 
plate their monarch, and when he raised the curtains of the 
litter or palanquin in which he travelled, to allow them to 
see him, the vociferations with which the multitude congratu- 
lated him, and besought Heaven's favor in his behalf, were 
so great, that we are told the motion of the air caused those 
birds which were flying over to fall to the ground* — a pro- 
digious effect, which, with equal claim to probability, Plu- 
tarch assures us took place in Greece when the Roman herald 
proclaimed the liberty of the Greeks. Those places in 
which the monarch condescended to stop were religiously 
respected, and to them the simple inhabitants devoutly 
resorted in pilgrimage, and treated them with the same re- 
spect that the monks of the Holy Sepulchre show to the 
spots consecrated by the presence of the Saviour. 

Although, like the Oriental monarchs, the Inca possessed 
an unlimited number of concubines, he had but one legiti- 

* Sarmiento, MS. Relation, Chap. X. (vide Prescott, IstC, p. 16, note.) 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 77 

mate spouse or wife, called Goya, and chosen from among 
his sisters. This incest, however repugnant it may seem to 
our ideas of morality, was the natural consequence of the 
conceit in which the Peruvians held their monarch ; who, 
supposed to be supernatural and a child of the Sun, might 
not be mixed up with any of the clay of which mere mor- 
tals were composed ; besides, such incest, for reasons proba- 
bly analogous, was the law or custom of various Oriental 
dynasties. Such were the Lagidas, in Egypt. This concen- 
tration of the blood of a single family, and the absence of 
all foreign element, must necessarily have impressed a distinc- 
tion of physiognomy, a seal, typical of the royal family, and 
thus augmented, by its exceptional character, the idolatrous 
veneration of the vassals. 

All the male children* took the name Inca when married, 
and of Auqui, when single. To designate the reigning 
monarch, without giving him his name, they made use of 
the title Capac-Inca (sole king). The queen was known by 
the name of Coya. The females of royal blood bore the 
denomination of Pallas, when married, and Nustas when 
single. The name of Mamacunas, or Shipa-Coyas, was 
reserved for the concubines who were not of royal blood. 
The throne belonged to the eldest son of the Coya or legiti- 
mate queen ; and the sceptre, according to Garcilasso, thus 
passed, without interruption, from fathers to sons, during the 
whole period in which the imperial dynasty flourished. 

The court of the sovereign was composed of several per- 
sons, of a rank more or less elevated. Immediately after 



* G-arcilasso says, in his Commentaries, Part I., Chap. XXXI., Book 
I., in the most explicit manner, that to the female descendants did not 
pertain the name of Inca ; this title, therefore, was usurped by him for 
himself, as he was the son of a "valla" 



78 PERU. 

the monarchs came the royal children, the principal mag- 
nates, and the most distinguished noblemen. Afterward 
came the officers of the royal household, who were members 
of the nobility of the kingdom; these were followed by the 
curacas or governors of the conquered provinces. Besides 
this, there were astrologers, amautas, or learned men, poets, 
superior officers, adjutants, a guard of honor, servants of 
various classes, and moreover numerous chasquis, or post- 
boys, always ready to start when ordered by the sovereign, 
be it on business for the State or private matters — for in- 
stance, when he wished to eat fish fresh from the sea, two 
hundred leagues off.* Add to this the harem of the mon- 
arch, which, during the most brilliant epoch of the kingdom, 
contained seven hundred women, each one of which had 
several servants. Garcilasso assures us that some of the 
Incas left more than three hundred direct descendants. 
Thus it is not strange that the court of Capac-Inca contained 
more than eight thousand persons. 

As in European countries, the Peruvian aristocracy de- 
rived its origin from its personal valor and its relationship 
to the sovereign. It contained or consisted of five orders. 

I. That of the Incas of royal blood, who came from the 
same stock as the sovereign. This order, the most import- 
ant of all, was divided into several classes, each one of 
which boasted of springing from an individual of royal 
blood, although all terminated in the divine founder of the 
empire. 



* Until now, but little notice has been taken of the ancient custom of 
the chasqui or postboy's receiving from his prince or curate, or alcalde, 
a certain number of stripes before starting — a punishment which they 
themselves solicited to prevent them from being delayed on the road by 
pleasure, or from stopping in resting-places. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 7§ 

II. That of the Incas by favor, i. e. the descendants of the 
principal vassals of the first Inca, to whom was conceded as 
a gift, or by respect, the privilege of using this title. 

III. That of noblemen sprung from families distinguished 
for the riches, valor, science, or some other merit of their 
ancestors' known members. 

IY. That of persons endowed with the highest dignities. 

V. That of the priesthood. 

The noblemen of royal blood were educated by the amau- 
tas and prepared for the huaracu, a ceremony similar to the 
order of knighthood of the middle ages. At the age of six- 
teen years, they were examined in Ouzco, in a house in the 
suburbs, called Collcampata — ancient and skilful Incas pre- 
siding at the examination. The candidates were obliged to 
be well versed in the athletic games of war, in wrestling, 
and other exercises which tested their strength and agility. 
They also fought in mock tournaments, in which, although 
the weapons were without edge, the contest always resulted 
in wounds, and sometimes in death. They were also com- 
pelled to fast many days, to go barefooted, to sleep on the 
ground, dress poorly, and submit to other privations, as 
much for the purpose of accustoming themselves to the fa- 
tigues of war, as to make them comprehend and compassion- 
ate the misery of the necessitous. The novitiates were after- 
ward presented to the reigning Inca, who pierced the ends 
of their ears with pins of gold, which they wore until the 
aperture was sufficiently large to hold enormous pendants, 
peculiar to their order, which consisted of wheels of gold 
or silver, so massive and heavy that they prodigiously en- 
larged the ears, deforming the size of the cartilage ; but this, 
among the natives, was considered a mark of beauty and 
distinction. The Spaniards, shocked at this deformity, gave 



80 PERU. 

the name of Orejones [great ears] to those lords who held 
the first offices of the State, civil or military.* 

The name Peru was not known to the natives, and accord 
ing to Garcilasso, signifies river } a word which, pronounced 
by one of the natives, in answer to a question put by the 
Spaniards, gave birth to an error, causing this name to be 
imputed to the vast empire of the Incas, the adventurous 
troops of Pizarro believing that thus the inhabitants called 
the country. Montesinos, who endeavors to persuade ua 
that Peru is the ancient Ophir from which Solomon extracted 
so many treasures, says that this name, Peru, is a corruption 
of the word Ophir. Be that as it may, it is certain that the 
name by which the subjects of the Incas characterized all 
the States depending upon the sovereign was that of Tahuan- 
tisuyu, which signifies the four quarters of the globe. The 
whole country was divided into four provinces of equal di- 
mensions ; that of the south was called Collasuyu, that of 
the north, Chinchasuyu, that of the east, Antisuyu, and that 
of the west, Cuntisuyu. A corresponding road led to each 
one of these provinces. These roads started from Cuzco, the 
capital or centre of the Peruvian monarchy. At the head 
of each province was a viceroy, or governor, who ruled with 
the aid of one or more counsellors. Each province was 
divided into more or less departments, not according to their 
territorial extent or size, but according to the number of 
inhabitants. And for the better administration and easier 
inspection of it, the Incas invented a simple system of sub- 
division. According to this system, the population of the 
country was divided into groups of ten, each under the com- 
mand of a decurion : ten decurions obeyed one centurion : 

* G-arcilssao de la Vega, Com., Part I., Book VI., Chap. XXIV.— 
XXVIII. 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 81 

ten centurions, or one thousand inhabitants, had for chief a 
principal magistrate, and one hundred centurions, or ten 
thousand men, formed a department under a governor. 
The decurion's office was to watch over the necessities of 
those who were under his command, to keep the governor 
informed of them, and to make known the petty transgres- 
sions of his decuriates to the principal chief, who had charge 
of the punishment. The greater the transgression, the great- 
er the punishment, and the higher in office was the judge 
upon whom the pronouncing of the sentence devolved. The 
chief of any section, large or small, who did not rigorously 
fulfil the duties of his office, suffered a severe penalty, and 
was deprived of his employment. In order to be certain 
that each one of these chiefs complied with his obligations, 
the Inca was in the habit of sending inspectors throughout 
the kingdom. The transgressors were punished almost im- 
mediately after the accusation of them, by the decurion ; 
each cause was to be tried, within five days at the very 
latest, after having been carried before the judge, and the 
sentence once pronounced, there was no appeal from it. 
Each judge, from the decurion to the governor, was obliged 
to give, every month, to his superior in office, a circum- 
stantial account of all that had taken place in his section, 
and the Inca received from the viceroys an extract of the 
most important. Thus the monarch, seated in the centre of 
his dominions, could overlook his most remote provinces, 
and revise and rectify whatever evils arose in the administra- 
tion of justice. This system occupied a million persons, and 
was immensely defective, be its advantages what they may. 
This administrative organization was, to a certain extent, 
somewhat similar to the ideas of certain European publicists 
of the past and present centuries, known under the name of 
socialists ; but there is another branch which almost entirely 
4* 



82 PEKU. 

realizes some social ideas of the day, and which to some ex- 
tent sacrifices liberty, the idol of our fathers, and immolates it 
to a certain fraternal equality, and to the full and certain 
satisfaction of mere material wants. The proud, harsh sel- 
fishness, origin of so many evils, and of the universal misery 
which disquiets and prostrates the greater part of the human 
race, can alone justify these monkish systems, which operate 
upon men just as arithmetic does upon homogeneous quan- 
tities, and robs them of liberty, that is, of their individuality 
and the expansion of their being. 

Only under an autocratical government, in which the chief 
of the State was at the same time an absolute monarch and 
a venerated pope, and only under a population essentially 
peaceable and agricultural, was it possible for this socialism 
to exist. 

All that part of the land which was capable of being cul- 
tivated was divided into three parts — one belonged to the 
sun, another to the Inca, and the third to the people. Each 
Peruvian received a topu of land, which was sufficient to 
produce the necessary corn for the maintenance of a married 
man, without children ; if he had children, he received for 
each male child one more lopu, and for each daughter half a 
topu. Upon his marriage the son received from his father 
the topu allotted to him from his birth. 

In cultivating the earth, they always followed a fixed rule; 
first were cultivated the lands pertaining to the protecting 
divinity. Afterward they attended to the lands of the aged, 
the sick, the widowed and the orphans, as also to those of 
the soldiers who were engaged in active service, whose wives 
were looked upon as widows. Those who were in need of 
grain or seed to sow, were provided by the decurion from 
the royal depository. After this, the people cultivated their 
own lands, each one for himself, but under an obligation to 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 5.1 

aid his neighbor, when the charge of a numerous family, or 
any other similar circumstance, required it — a fraternal cus- 
tom which even at this day is practised by the Peruvian In- 
dians. Next in order were cultivated the lands of the 
curacas, and finally those of the Inca, by the whole nation, 
with much ceremony and the greatest rejoicing, singing 
popular hymns resembling the Spanish romances, in which 
were celebrated the exploits and noble deeds of the imperial 
dynasty. These songs at the same time made the work most 
agreeable, as much by the moral excitement which they pro- 
duced, as by accommodating the labor to the rhyme, even as 
soldiers accommodate their pace to the accompanying sound 
of the drum. The beginning of a song was generally the 
word haillt, which signifies triumph. Garcilasso assures us 
that many of these songs were sung by the Spaniards, who 
were very fond of them. 

The Peruvians improved the land with manure, principally 
with human excrement, which they collected and dried, 
using it in a pulverized state, after having sowed the 
seed. In certain provinces they used the dung of llamas, 
alpacas, huanacos, and vicunas ; in maritime provinces, they 
fertilized the earth with the remains of dried fish, and with 
the huanu, [i. e. guano] or dung of birds. The circumspec- 
tion of the monarchs extended even to this point : " Each 
island," says Garcilasso, "was marked as appropriated to 
such or such a province ; and if the island were large, it sup- 
plied two or three provinces. They placed landmarks, so 
that those of one province might not encroach upon the dis- 
tricts of the other ; and dividing it particularly, they gave 
to each one his limits, and to each neighbor also his limits, 
measuring out the quantity of manure that was necessary ; 
and under pain of death, the citizen of one place could not 
take the manure without his own boundary, for it was con- 



84 PERU. 

sidered a theft — nor from their own boundary could they 
extract more than the quantity which was appraised to it, 
which was a sufficiency for their lands, and a wrong in this 
respect was punished by disgrace." 

The distribution of the nation, such as we have described 
it, possessed very many advantages : it facilitated the ad- 
ministration of the whole country, knit together all the rela- 
tions of the State, gave to it an unity which might be viewed 
at a glance, and secured an exact account of the increase or 
diminution of the population. By the equal distribution of 
the land, the Incas avoided pauperism, a terrible evil which 
devours the European States. Idlers could not live in the 
empire of Peru, since each individual possessed his necessary 
occupation ; as little were there any needy ; and the equal 
distribution of wealth brought profit to the industrious and 
skilful only. 

J3y the above-mentioned system the mode of raising taxes 
was very much facilitated. From twenty -five until fifty }^ears 
of age, each Indian was taxed. But all the individuals of 
royal blood were exempt, all the chiefs and judges, down to 
the centurion, the curacas with their parentage, all those fill- 
ing minor offices, whilst they retained the position, the 
soldiers in active service, the priests and ministers of the 
temple of the sun, and finally all the invalids, all the lame, 
and really infirm. 

The tax consisted simply of personal labor ; each one of 
the taxed was compelled to work the days or weeks conse- 
crated to the Sun or to the Inca — each one according to his 
calling : the husbandman ploughed the lands of the monarch, 
the weaver spun the cloth and garments for the court and 
the depositories of the government, the silversmiths made 
vases and idols for the temples, the potters made vessels of 
clay for the use of the Inca, &c. But the materials were 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 85 

supplied by the State, which also undertook to support the 
workmen while the labor lasted. All the great works and 
gigantic enterprises for common use were executed by the 
taxed. On them it devolved to build the temples, the famous 
royal roads, the bridges, the aqueducts, to water the corn- 
fields, to build the inns for travellers, the palaces for gover- 
nors, the storehouses for the State. It was also their charge 
to preserve and repair these works, to assist travellers, to 
wait on them at the inns, perform the office of runners or 
post-boys, to tend the cattle which belonged to the Inca and 
the Sun. The immense flocks of sheep and alpacas were 
distributed in the punas throughout the kingdom, and the 
officers who superintended them kept, by a particular plan, 
an exact account of their number. 

Each young Indian was obliged to follow the profession 
or office of his father, and the sons of the citizens were not 
permitted to learn the sciences, which were reserved peculiarly 
for the nobility, a measure, the object of which was to pre- 
vent the lower classes from becoming proud ; this profession of 
the father only the curacas and centurions had power to 
change. Neither were they allowed to change their habita- 
tion ; in order to do it, it was necessary to obtain the per- 
mission of the superior, who rarely conceded it. Doubtless 
the Incas were accustomed to move entire populations to 
other distant provinces, especially those recently conquered, 
for the better security of the dependence of the inhabitants 
by their mixture ; always taking care to transfer them to 
countries of similar climate, and devoted to the same occu- 
pations. 

The political laws were concise and wise. Father Blas- 
Valera, an authentic historian whose writings are approved 
by Garcilasso, quotes the following (Garc. Com. I., Book V., 
Chap. XL, fol. 109): 



I. The municipal law treated of the particular duties 
•which, in its jurisdiction, belonged to each nation or people. 

II. The agrarian law, which treated of the distribution of 
the lands ; the dependent was called Chacracamayoc. 

III. The common law, which designated the labors which 
the Indians were to perform in common ; for instance, to 
level the roads under the direction of the Hatunnancamayoc 
(superintendent of the roads), to make bridges under the 
command of the Chacacamayoc (superintendent of bridges), 
to construct aqueducts and canals under the direction of the 
Yacucamayoc, or superintendent of the waters, etc. 

IV. The law of brotherhood, which treated of mutual aid 
in the cultivation of lands and construction of houses. 

Y. The lav: mitachanacuy, which regulated the periods 
when work was done in the different provinces, and also, 
the different tribes, lineages and individuals. 

YI. The economical law, which treated of the ordinary 
personal expenses, and prescribed simplicity of dress and 
food. At the same time, this law commanded that, two or 
three times each month, the neighbors of each town or na- 
tion should eat together in the presence of their chief officer, 
and should exercise themselves in military or popular games, 
with a view of reconciling quarrels, extirpating all enmities, 
and producing peace. 

"VII. TJie law in favor of invalids, which required that the 
lame, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the crippled, the decre- 
pit, and the infirm should be supported at the public expense. 
This law also commanded that, two or three times a month, 
these invalids should be invited to the festivals or public 
feasts, so that among the general rejoicing, they might forget 
in a measure their miserable condition. The Oncocamayoc, 
or superintendent of the sick, was the executor of this law. 

VIII. The law of hospitality, which prescribed the means 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 87 

of ministering to the necessities of strangers and travellers 
at the public expense, in the inns called Corpahuasis, under 
the superintendence of the Corpahuasicamayoc. 

IX. The housekeeping law, which regulated individual 
labor, and provided even the children of five years of age 
with occupations proportioned to their strength and years, 
as also to the infirm according to their faculties. The same 
law commanded that the Indians should dine and sup with 
open doors, so that the administrators of justice might have 
free entrance to visit them. There were also certain officers 
called Llactacamayoc, or superintendents of the town, who 
visited very frequently the temples, the public edifices, and 
the private houses, and who kept a general oversight, to see 
that order, neatness, and convenience prevailed ; punishing 
those persons who lived in dirt and laziness, by blows on 
the arms and feet, and publicly applauding those who were 
distinguished for their excellence and cleanliness. 

It cannot be denied that such institutions were a powerful 
means to preserve the morality and social virtues of the na- 
tion, and that they were truly paternal, since they united the 
citizens in one single family, whose members mutually as- 
sisted and supported each other, and very justly might the 
Count Carli say, in his American letters (Yol. I., p 215), 
that the moral man in Peru was infinitely superior to the 
European. 

The code of civil laws was simple, and the punishments 
severe. The maxims were concise — i. e. ama quellanquichu, 
avoid idleness ; ama llullanquichu, avoid lying; amasuacun- 
quichu, avoid stealing ; ama huachocchucanqui, avoid commit- 
ting adultery ; ama pictapas hnanuchinquichu, avoid murder. 

Idleness was severely punished, and it was ignominious to 
suffer the penalty for this vice. The cheat was flagellated, 
and sometimes condemned to death. There were grave pun- 



88 PERU. 

ishments for those who destroyed landmarks, as also for 
those who prevented the water from fertilizing the neighboring 
fields by turning it "upon their own ; or for those who injured 
the harvests. The idler, the homicide, the burner of a bridge, 
were condemned to death, and without possible remission of 
the sentence. But the principal punishments were reserved 
for those who sinned against religion, or against the sacred 
majesty of the Inca, or against that which pertained to his 
person. The seduction of a virgin of the sun, or adultery 
with one of the women of the Inca, was considered a crime 
so abominable, that , the delinquent was buried or burnt 
alive, as were also his wife, his sons, his ancestors, servants, 
his neighbors of the town, and even his cattle. At the 
same time the law commanded that his houses should be 
demolished, his trees cut down, and the place changed into 
a desert, that not the slightest vestige of what might recall 
so horrible a crime should remain. Equally severe were the 
punishments awarded to those provinces which rebelled 
against the Inca ; they were almost invariably invaded, given 
up to the soldiery, and all the males, not excepting the boys 
of tender years, were put to the sword. 

It only remains to speak of the military system of the 
Incas. Each taxed Indian was obliged to serve a certain 
time in the royal armies, and, when freed from the service, 
he returned to his people, or nation, and took part in the 
military exercises which were held once or twice a month 
under the command of the centurions. The same organiza- 
tion which we have explained in the civil class, reigned in 
the military : ten men were governed by the Chuncacamayoc 
(decurion), fifty by the Pichcachuncacamayoc, one hundred 
by the Pachcacamayoc (centurion), and a thousand by the 
Huarancamayoc. Five thousand men were under the com- 
mand of the Hatun-apu (chief captain), who also had a 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 89 

Hatun-apup-rantin, or second captain, under him. One half 
of this number obeyed an Apu (captain), with his Apup-ran- 
tin (lieutenant). The Apusquipay was general of a whole 
army, and his lieutenant-general bore the name of Apus- 
quip-rantin. Each division had its Unanchacamayoc, or en- 
sign, its trumpeters (Queppacamayoc), and drummers (Ruan- 
carcamayoc), and the whole army bore the royal standard. 
The battalions were distinguished by their arms, of which 
we will speak hereafter. 

"We are not positively told how long the soldier was 
obliged to serve, and it seems to have depended upon cir- 
cumstances. When the Inca employed arms against a resist- 
ing enemy, or in unhealthy provinces, he permitted the 
soldiers to return every three months, and even oftener, to 
their country, and assembled another army to take the 
place of the licensed. The Inca provided his soldiers with 
uniforms of coarse cloth (Auasca), shoes of woven flax, and 
arms : which formed part of the tax of the nation. 

Yery admirable were the precautions and solicitude of the 
Inca for the soldiers :"n a campaign. In the greater part of 
the kingdom, were found on the royal roads, at convenient 
distances, deposits of arms and uniforms, in such abun- 
dance, that each one of these deposits was sufficient to equip 
an army with everything that was necessary, and care was 
taken that the governors of the provinces or superintendents 
of royal warehouses (Coptracamayoc) should always keep 
these storehouses well provided. 

In crossing a friendly country, the troops dared do no 
injury, and the slightest excess was punished with death. 
How different from our armies were the armies of that day ! 

The conquered provinces were treated by the Incas with 
the greatest consideration and indulgence, unless the obsti- 
nacy of the resistance obliged them to resort to severe 



90 PERU. 

measures. Their endeavors were directed primarily to the 
incorporating into their kingdom of the conquered territories, 
which, with some exceptions, obtained a better position than 
has been granted by any conqueror, ancient or modern, of 
the Eastern hemisphere. The conquerors imposed upon the 
conquered their religion, language, and system of govern- 
ment, and received a number of their subjects. But in spite 
of this, they knew how in a short time to gain the love and 
veneration of their new subjects.* Hardly had they con- 
quered a city, when the Inca caused its principal idol to be 
carried to Cuzco ; and ordained the adoration of the Supreme 
God, Tied Huiracocha, imposing upon the priests as a duty 
that they should teach the conquered the worship of this 
deity. He also sent Amautas and masters of languages to 
the conquered country, that they might teach them the 
Quichua tongue, if the prevailing idiom were different ; com- 
manding under the severest penalties that each child should 
learn only the general language of the kingdom. The 
sovereign also was accustomed to cause the Prince to come 
to the capital with all his sons, whom he overpowered with 
kindness and presents conferred with the greatest generosity ; 
and at the end of a certain time he restored the father to his 
ancient dignity, keeping his sons as hostages in the court, 
but giving them an excellent education, and loading them 
with gifts and proofs of benevolence. In order to gain popu- 
larity with the masses of the annexed country, the Inca 
diminished the first year the taxes, and treated with the 
greatest liberality the orphans, widows, and invalids : at the 
same time he sent officers to the new province, that they 

* Thus the Incas treated the conquered nations, with a view to prevent 
their destruction — a wise and conciliatory policy, which should be 
adopted by more refined States, instead of employing means tending to 
destroy them. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 91 

Taighi iax and enroll all the inhabitants, according to 
their age^ lineage and offices, and he then distributed them 
according to the system adopted in the other provinces of 
the kingdom. The young Indians of the conquered fought 
under the royal banner, and those who remained in the 
country were the objects of strict and continued vigilance, 
in order to suppress in the bud every symptom of insurrec- 
tion. And for the better security of these nations, the Incas 
sent colonies of six or ten thousand persons from the faith- 
ful provinces, who incorporated themselves with the con- 
quered masses, while an equal number of these were added 
to that province from which the colonies were sent: but 
always taking care, as I have before mentioned, that these 
colonies should be sent to lands of similar climate and pro- 
ducts. To these colonies, called mitimas, the monarch grant- 
ed several privileges, by means of which he secured to him- 
self the fidelity of the conquered province. 

It is certain that history has no record of any government 
which, by such adequate means, was able to amalgamate so 
intimately such different nations, and form of them a whole 
so compact ; and the system by which they established one 
of the most extensive empires recorded in human memory, 
is as praiseworthy as it is full of interest. 



CHAPTEE Y. 

THE QUICHUA LANGUAGE. 

The pride of civilized communities applies the term 
'barbarous' to all languages spoken by nations of inferior 
culture, that are without literature or even writing. The 
I American languages have been considered such ; all of 
which, as we shall see presently, have been included in the 
same category. Although it is generally well known that 
the empires of Mexico and Peru surpassed in power and 
civilization the other nations of the New World, yet, in our 
opinion, justice has not been done to those two nations ; and 
the contemptuous apathy of Europeans has been the cause 
why the literary and scientific world has been left in igno- 
rance of many treasures which would have been brought to 
light, by a studious resort to sources, now indeed lost, but 
the products of which, put forth in earlier centuries, are 
still visible, and, indeed, scarcely covered by the dust of 
time. 

The strongest proof of the truth of this assertion is to be 
found in the little appreciation of the study of the languages 
of those two countries ; and it is strange that even those 
who have most studied their archaeology, have passed by, in 
whole or in part, the study of the idioms spoken by their 
independent and powerful inhabitants in earlier times. 
Without doubt, language is the chief archaeological element, 

(92) 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 93 

the sole monument of reconstruction, as Volney has termed 
it; and in it will be found disposed, and preserved, the 
entire essence of a people. Language is, as it were, a strati- 
fication, which reveals to the learned who study philosophi- 
cally its various layers, the genius, culture, and different 
historic changes of the people who used it. "As long (says 
Mirabeau) as men are obliged to use words, it will be neces- 
sary to weigh them." The modifications of a language in- 
dicate the changes of thought, feelings, aspirations, and even 
of national customs and fluctuating habits. "Let no one 
(says Quintilian) consider as trifling or useless the alphabetic 
elements ; since, if their wonderful enfoldings be looked into, 
there will spring forth a multitude of subtle questions, 
capable, not merely of guiding children aright, but of draw- 
ing on, and enriching, the most profoundly learned." 

Impressed with these principles, we have thought it would 
prove of interest to our readers should we here present a 
short review of the relations of the American languages to 
each other ; and particularly of the character of the Quichuan 
or Peruvian tongue ; flattering ourselves that the present 
chapter, offering a compound of extended and laborious 
observations which we have made on this subject, will not 
be the least important in our work. 

In our first chapter we have shown the relations of the 
two hemispheres to each other before the coming of Colum- 
bus ; and in view of those relations, this question naturally 
occurs to one engaged in the study of American languages : — 
What influence had the immigration from the old Continent 
upon the aboriginal nations of America ? It may safely be 
answered that this influence was insensible, and not in any 
degree capable of imprinting a mark on the language, nor of 
enlightening the philologist in a knowledge of the nature of 
the immigrant races. 



94 PERU. 

Passing by the irruptions made into the very bosom of the 
American continent, irruptions which almost always took 
place from the North to the South, the greater part of the 
immigrations from the Eastern hemisphere presented a pacific 
character ; and immigrations of this kind had very little or 
no influence on the languages of the country which received 
them; in support of this truth, not to mention other instances, 
it is sufficient to refer to the case of the United States, where 
the national idiom is not in the slightest degree altered by 
the numerous Dutch, German and French immigrations 
which are emptied in her ports. 

Building upon the analogy of loose and exceptionable 
words, there have been philologists who have pretended 
that the American continent was peopled by East Indians, 
Malays, Chinese and Japanese; others, alleging with equal 
confidence proofs of a similar nature, think that America 
derived its population from the inhabitants of Caucasus, 
from Carthaginians, Jews, and Irish ; while others still, 
assure us that the origin is to be attributed to the Scandina- 
vians, the natives of Western Africa, the Spaniards and the 
Biscayans.* The analogy so much relied on between the 
words of the American languages and those of the ancient 
continent, have induced us to make an approximate estimate, 

* Mr. Castelneau, in the fourth volume of his expedition to South 
America (Paris, 1851), in the chapter which treats of the antiquities of 
Cuzco, makes a division of the human species into the three races, white, 
red, and black, as descendants of the three sons of Adam and the three 
sons of Noah. After various considerations in support of his opinion, 
citing various authors, both ancient and modern, he concludes : 

1. That the Indians of America pertain to the Semitic race. 

2. That they are the descendants of the Atlantes, making part of the 
red race which extended, in remote times, over a great part of the ancient 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 95 

as far as our meaas would permit, of the numerical value of 
the idioms of both hemispheres ; and the result was, that from 
between eight and nine thousand American words one only 
could be found analogous in sense and sound to a word of 
any idiom of the ancient continent ; and that in two-fifths of 
these words, it was necessary to violate the sound to find the 
same meaning ; as we can illustrate by some examples cited 
by philologists : ) 

Ne in the language of the Cherqueses, nahui in the Qui- 
chua — the eye. 

Muts in the language of the Lesgos, metztle in Mexican — 
the moon. 

Nome in the Coptic, neen in the Abipone language — good. 

Hosono in the East Indies, acsi in the Quichua — to laugh. 

Fiote in Congo, bode in the Otomi (Mexico) — black. 

Zippen in the Celtic, sapi in the Quichua — a root. 

Doubtless there are words, which, from the analogy both 
in sound and sense, invite serious reflection ; and this analogy, 
combined with historical considerations, sometimes conducts 
us to important discoveries ; such, for instance, (not to 
enumerate other examples) is the Quichua word for the sun, 

3. That America never was, during a long series of centuries, cut off 
from communication with the Old World. 

Relying on philological resemblances and on other observations, he 
cites among other things the relation of an Israelite whom he encoun- 
tered at Santarem, on the banks of the Amazon, who assured him that 
in the idioms which are spoken in the adjacent regions, there may be 
found more than five hundred words identical with the Hebrew — an 
assertion which we very much doubt ; and which, at this day, is not of 
the same importance as the one (identical with it in all respects) which 
the Jew made to Montesini in the seventeenth century, as we have rela- 
ted in the first chapter. 

It is not possible from loose words, nor even from customs and particu- 
lar instruments, safely to deduce conclusions so grave and important. 



96 PERU. 

Intij which unquestionably derives itt origin from the San- 
scrit root fiidh, to shine, to burn, to flanie, and which is iden- 
tical with the East India word Indra, the sun. The word 
inti, which held so important a signification in the religion 
of the ancient Peruvians, was taken from the private lan- 
guage of the Incas, and permits us to see what elements were 
contained in the idiom of the reformers of the Peruvian wor- 
ship. Still it has not been possible to trace satisfactory analogies 
between the languages of the barbarous Indians (particularly 
of South America) and the idioms of the Eastern hemisphere, 
because of the large number of the first named, which, ac- 
cording to some philologists, amounts to not less than two or 
three thousand, while, according to others, there are only five 
hundred, or even less ; so that after repeated attempts, no 
satisfactory result has as yet been reached, in consequence of 
the immense difficulties presented in the examination of the 
subject. It is probable that the true number may be placed 
between the two above named. In the continent of South 
America, i. e., from the Isthmus of Panama to Cape Horn, 
there may be found from 280 to 340 languages, of which 
four-fifths are composed of idioms radically different ; and 
the idioms of Central and North America rise to a number 
more than the double of these. According to Jefferson, the 
radical languages of America, i. e., according to the roots 
from which they are evidently derived, are twenty times 
more numerous than the radical languages of Asia. 

That many American idioms recognize the same root, 
admits of no doubt, although, at times, it is exceedingly 
difficult to give the proofs of a common origin. To attain 
this end, we ought above all things to consider the influence 
upon the formation of language of the mode of life of the 
natives ; and from that to deduce the causes of different 
tongues. The wandering life of the Indians was one of the 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 97 

most powerful causes of the formation of dialects, which 
were so transformed by time as scarcely to retain a vestige 
of the mother tongue. The dispersion of the tribes over 
immense plains and almost inaccessible mountains, the sight 
of new objects, novel customs, the complete separation, and 
destruction of all kind of relation with sister tribes, were 
causes more than sufficient to form, in a short time, a multi- 
tude of new words, and to produce an idiom which at first 
view would seem to be entirely distinct from the mother 
tongue. But the grammatical construction remains an in- 
destructible monument to attest the affiliation which no cir- 
cumstances of time or place can obliterate. 

But more frequent than these transformed languages or 
dialects, do we find original idioms completely distinct 
between two adjacent nations having constant communica- 
tion, while some tribe, residing in the mountains at a distance 
of more than one hundred leagues, will be found speaking 
the language of one of these neighboring or adjacent 
nations, although there are interposed, between these people 
of a common idiom, more than twenty intervening idioms 
completely different. Without citing many other examples 
of this, it is sufficient to refer, in proof of our assertion, to 
the striking instance of the Quichua and the Moxa tongues. 
As it respects words, there are not a half dozen in the two 
languages alike in sense and sound ; and the grammatical 
differences are very great ; yet were they adjacent to each 
other. Thus, the Quichua language has a complete declen- 
sion, formed by means of certain particles placed after the 
noun ; while the Moxa language has strictly no declension, 
and is obliged to form the cases by a periphrasis ; as for 
instance, in the dative, which is often formed by the aid of 
the future tense of the substantive verb. Again, the Qui- 
chua has primitive personal pronouns, and also possessive 
5 



98 PERU. 

pronouns quite distinct from the personal ; and these are 
always inseparable from the noun, and always placed after 
it ; or if used in the conj ligation of a verb, they take the 
place of a personal pronoun to the verb ; the Moxa has 
primitive personal pronouns identical with the possessives, 
and always placed before the word used. The Quichua has 
a sj^stem of numbers so complete that any arithmetical 
quantity can be expressed by them, while the Moxa has but 
four numbers — ete, one, apt, two, mopo, three, triahiri, four ; 
for five and all beyond it, the number must be expressed by 
a periphrasis. 

The Quichua language has a very perfect form of conju- 
gation, and the moods and tenses are more complete than in 
many of the most cultivated languages of the ancient conti- 
nent ; while the Moxa has only a single mood, the indica- 
tive, and two forms of tenses, one for the present and past, 
and the other for the future, which last is at times made to 
serve in place of an imperative also. These few but striking 
differences sufficiently show that these two neighboring 
idioms are both primitive, and do not proceed from the same 
root. 

All the American languages, from the most northern 
shores of Greenland to the most southern point of Patagonia, 
possess two common grammatical characteristics — one of 
these exists also in some of the primitive languages of the 
ancient continent ; the other is characteristic of the Ameri- 
can tongues, and is the link which unites them. The first 
relates strictly to the whole grammar, since it is not formed 
by any internal change of the radical sound of a word, or 
by inflection, but by the addition to the radical word, of par- 
ticles or special words which convey the relation it is desired 
to express ; or in other words, by a mechanical affix. On 
this account these idioms have received the name of polisyn- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 99 

thetic or agglutinate languages. This mechanical connection 
is often so plain that it cannot be mistaken : but sometimes 
the affixes are found so intimately united with the radical 
word, that nothing short of attentive study is sufficient to 
show that there is not really inflection, but simply aggluti- 
nation. 

The second characteristic, which, as we have said, is pecu- 
liar to the American languages, consists in particular forms 
of the verb, by means of which the activity of the subject 
is transferred to a personal object : that is, if the action of a 
personal subject is directed to a person, the pronoun which 
indicates this person is expressed by a change of the verb, 
and not by the intercalation of the accusative of the pro- 
noun, as in the European languages, but by different affixes 
to the pronoun, intimately united both with it and with the 
verbal trunk, or with the verb thus combined with its par- 
ticles. There are six forms of this transfer of action : of 
the first person to the second, of the first person to the third ; 
of the second to the first, and of the second to the third ; 
of the third to the first, and of the third to the second. All 
the American languages, however, have not these six forms. 
In some are wanting those to the third person ; in others, 
those of the third to those of the first, so that they have but 
two forms. The precision and care with which these rela- 
tions are distinguished are particularly admirable in the 
Mexican tongues ; for in them there is one form of the verb 
when the action refers to a personal object, another when 
the reference is to something inanimate, and another still 
when there is no reference to an object at all, i. e. when the 
verb is neuter. Not less artificial, in this respect, are the 
Quichua and the language of Greenland ; but it is most de- 
veloped in the idiom of the Delawares, and in the Chilidugu, 
in Aranca, sometimes uniting in them two verbs so com- 



100 PERU. 

pletely, that both are conjugated through all their forms, so 
that one single word expresses three or four ideas at once. 
The Spanish grammarians have called this union of the pro- 
noun and verb transition; Dr. Yon Tschudi, in his large 
work on the Quichua language, calls it the conjugation of the 
'personal object. 

We would further invite attention to certain peculiarities 
of the American languages, which, if not found in all, yet 
exist in the greater part of them. These peculiarities relate 
principally to the use of the pronoun. A double form of 
the first person plural exists in the personal and possessive 
pronouns. The first is used when a person includes in the 
discourse himself and all others present connected either 
casually or necessarily with the subject ; the second is used 
when a certain number is excluded from the action of which 
the speaker treats. These two forms are called the inclusive 
and exclusive plural, and are repeated in the verb, if not also 
in the substantive. Besides these two plurals, in some 
idioms there is an exact dual. Various species of concrete 
duals are formed by means of affixes, which, united to a sub- 
stantive, signify the object or person designated by the sub- 
stantive with the part or member which most naturally 
belongs to it or him ; for example : in the Quichua language, 
cosa means a husband ; and the affix ntin, including the idea 
of union, cosantin means a husband with his wife ; hacha sig- 
nifies a tree, and hachantin a tree with its roots. 

It is a singular circumstance, too, that in some American 
idioms, the women use prorouns different from those used by 
men. Thus in the Moxa, the demonstrative tma means ' this 1 
in the mouth of a man ; a woman would express ' this' by 
the word eni ; marcani signifies l he, J and is used by a man ; 
a woman would use pocnaqui to say ' he. 1 The same differ- 
ence is observed in other parts of speech, according to the 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 101 

difference of sexes ; thus, in the Quiehua, a brother, speak- 
ing of his sister, says, panay (my sister) ; while a sister, 
desirous of expressing the same thing, says, nanay (my 
sister) ; so a sister, speaking of a brother, says, huauquey (my 
brother); while, to indicate the same person, the brother 
says, Ihcsimasiy '-huauquey (my brother) ; a father says churiy 
(my son), and the mother says karihuahuay (my son) ; the 
father says to his daughter ususiy (my daughter) ; the mother 
calls her huarma-huahuay (my daughter). Similar differences 
exist if an uncle speaks, according as his relationship is on 
the paternal or maternal side. We find differences analogous 
to these in the Chilidugu, Maypuri, Tamenaki, Mexican, 
Chippeway, Kickapoos, Sacs and Foxes, Ottoway, Potowot- 
amy, Wyandot, Shawnee, and other languages. That which 
is most surprising is, that the same difference is remarked even 
in the most simple parts of speech ; so that the interjections 
of grief, for instance, used by males, are different from those 
used by females ; the woman utters other words than the 
man uses to direct attention to something, and the interjec- 
tions employed to animate or cheer in work are different as 
used by man or woman. Azara assures us that among the 
Mbaya Indians of Paraguay, the language varies, according 
as the person who speaks is married or single — a peculiarity 
which probably obtains in certain expressions or forms of 
speech only. 

To all the American languages also belongs the construc- 
tion of words by means of one or more affixes joined to the 
primitive word, thus providing for the formation of many 
compound words. But this compounding is not limited to 
the use of affixes or particles only, for sometimes various 
parts of speech, in whole or in part, are united with the 
primitive word, which, regularly, is a verb. From this pro- 
cess result entire phrases expressed solely by a word thus 



102 PERU. 

super-compounded. This faculty of composition or polisyn- 
thesis, as Duponceau calls it, is found in a greater degree in 
the languages of North America, than it is in those of the 
southern part of our hemisphere ; and among the former, it 
is not a rare thing to find twelve or eighteen different parts 
of speech united to form a single word. 

From the mere compounding of words, that is, from the 
union of single particles with the primitive word, is derived 
an immense quantity of words in the American languages, 
which, as we have said, may be increased ad infinitum. This 
extraordinary copiousness has astonished the philologists, 
who assure us that for every English or Spanish word, the 
Indians, in their languages, have three or four. The most 
exact designation of an object or an action is another charac- 
teristic of American languages. , The mode of living, the 
immediate relations with nature, the vigilance with which it 
is necessary to guard, day and night, against the attacks of 
wild beasts, or adjacent enemies, all these force the tribes to 
use the greatest precision in speech. With all the auxiliary 
means of our cultivated languages, we are not able to de- 
scribe with the definite and unmistakable precision of an 
American Indian, the track of a wild beast, or the foot- 
print of an enemy. 

It is scarce necessary to remark that this copious abundance 
of words produces an extraordinary variety in discourse ; 
nevertheless, these languages are distinguished by energy and 
conciseness, exceeding in these respects the most perfect 
tongues in Europe. And yet such languages are called bar- 
barous / It is to be lamented that so much genius and so 
many distinctive traits of richness and beauty as adorn the 
American languages, should be accompanied with an almost 
total want of literature ; and, as to this point, certain it is 
that the Eastern hemisphere was two thousand years in 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 103 

advance of all our Indian populations. Before the coming 
of Europeans, there was, among our natives, a want of rep- 
resentative characters ; or at best, they were limited to an 
imperfect graphic representation, or to some defective mate- 
rial sign of a word. The first of these existed among the 
Mexicans, who used hieroglyphics painted on paper, or 
graved on stone ; the second was found among the Peru- 
vians, who employed their quippos, of which we shall speak 
more fully hereafter. The indefatigable zeal of some among 
the learned has sought to find an explanation of the hiero- 
glyphics, and it is not improbable that what is desired might 
be attained if we had these characters in greater abundance ; 
but the immense collection of Mexican writings was destroyed 
almost entirely by the fanaticism of the Spanish conquerors, 
and particularly of the Dominican friars who accompanied 
them, so that nothing has been saved but a few isolated frag- 
ments. How great was the treasure of manuscripts may»be 
judged of from the relation of Torquemada, who tells us, that 
even in the last days of the Mexican monarchy, five cities 
only delivered up to the governor sixteen thousand bundles 
of papers, made of the maguay plant (Agave Americana), 
and that the whole of these were filled with painted hiero- 
glyphics. 

Besides the two cultivated nations of Mexico and Peru, 
there were also others which present us with indications, 
though obscure, of the possession of a hieroglyphic writing, 
which has not been deciphered, and probably never will be. 
Such are the Hurons, the Iroquois, the Indians of the Rio 
del Norte, of Louisiana, and others. Those countries which 
have been taught the use of foreign characters, show us 
nothing but a meagre and insignificant literature, consisting 
principally of prayers, catechisms, sermons, and books of 
elementary instruction. * 



104 PERU. 

Among the last-named class of languages, however, an 
exception is to be made in favor of the Tirohi ;* thanks to 
the indefatigable labor of a native, Sequoiah, one of the 
most distinguished men in America, who, within little more 
than the last twenty years, has invented a syllabic alphabet 
which so soon became familiar to the nation that the Thiroki 
Ph(E7iix, a newspaper, has been printed in the native Ian 
guage, in the letters of this alphabet. 

After these observations on the principles of the American 
languages in general, we do not think it necessary to extend 
them to a particular explanation of the grammar of the 
Quichua language ; and he who wishes to be instructed in 
that, can refer to one of the grammars of that idiom. It may 
be of interest, however, to the lovers of that beautiful tongue 
to know at least the titles of the philological works which 
treat of it ; and as even among the Peruvians themselves 
they are but little known, we here present a bibliographical 
and chronological catalogue of grammatical works on the 
Quichua language.f It is much to be wished that some truly 

* Our author means the Cherokee. [Translator.] 
fThe translator has transferred this from the text to the following 
note: 

I. San Thomas (Domingo de). Grramatica 6 arte general de la lengua 
de los Indios del Peru. Nuevamente compuesto por el maestro Fray 
Domingo de San Thomas, de la orden de Santo Domingo, morador en 
dichos reinos. Impreso en Valladolid por Francisco Fernandez de 
Cordua. Acabose a diez dias del mez de Henero, ano 1560, 8vo. ; y, 
como apenclice : Lexicon 6 Vocabulario de la lengua general del Peru, 
llamada Quichua. Valladolid, 1560. 

II. Ricardo (Antonio). Arte y Vocabulario de la lengua, llamada 
quichua. En la ciudad de los Reyes, 1586, 8vo. 

III. Ricardo (Antonio). Vocabulario en lengua general del Peru, 
llamada quichua y en lengua espailola. En la ciudad de los Reyes, 1586, 
8vo. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 105 

patriotic and learned Peruvian would devote himself to the 
study of the Quichua language, and seek to lay the founda- 
tions of a literature in an idiom so beautiful and singular 
that the sons of the ancient monarchy of the Incas should 
not blush to be proud of it. 

The ancient Peruvians had two kinds of writing : one, and 
certainly the most ancient, consisted in a species of hiero- 
glyphic characters ; the other, in knots made on threads of 
divers colors. The hieroglyphics of the Mexicans were very 
distinct, and graved on stone or metal. In Southern Peru 
there has not yet been discovered any vestige of hieroglyphics 

Pertenecen estos libros a los primeros impresos en la America meridional. 

IV. Torres Ruhio (Diego de). Gramatica y Vocabulario en lengua 
general del Peru, llamada Quichua y en lengua espanola. 8vo., Sevilla, 
1603. 

V. Martinez (El Padre Maestro Fray Juan). Vocabulario en la lengua 
general del Peru, llamada Quichua y en la lengua espanola. En los Reyes, 
1604, 8vo. 

VI. Holguin (Diego Gonzalez). Gramatica y arte nueva de la lengua 
general del Peru, llamada quichua 6 lengua del Inca (en cuatro libros . 
Impreso en la ciudad de-los Reyes del Peru por Francisco del Canto, 1607, 
4to. 

VII. Holguin (Diego Gonzalez). Vocabulario de la lengua general de 
todo el Peru, llamada Quichua 6 del Inga. Los Reyes por Francisco del 
Canto. 1608, 4to., dos partes en un vol. 

VIII. Arte y Vocabulario en la lengua general del Peru, llamada 
Quichua y en la lengua espanola. Lima, 1614, 8vo., por Francisco del 
Canto. 

IX. Huerta (Don Alonso de). Arte de la lengua quichua general de 
los Indios de este reyno del Peru. Impreso por Francisco del Canto en 
los Reyes, 1616, 4to. 

X. Torres Ruhio (Diego de) segunda edicion, en Lima por Francisco 
Lasso, aiio de 1619, 8vo. 

XI. Olmos (Diego de). Gramatica de la lengua indica, Lima, 1633, 4to. 

XII. Carrera (Fernando de, cura y vicario de San Martin de Reque 
en el corregimiento de Chiclayo). Arte de la lengua yunga de los valles 

5* 



106 



PERU. 



painted on paper ; but according to the observations of Don 
Mariano de Rivero, at the distance of eight leagues north of 
Arequipa there exist a multitude of engravings on granite 
which represent figures of animals, flowers, and fortifications, 
and which doubtless tell the story of events anterior to the 
dynasty of the Incas. 




ENGRAVING ON ROCK, EIGHT LEAGUES NORTH OF AREQUIPA. 

In the province of Castro-Yireyna, in the town of Huay- 
tara, there is found, in the ruins of a large edifice, of similar 
construction to the celebrated palace of old Huanuco, a mass 
of granite, many square yards in size, with coarse engrav- 
ings like those last mentioned near Arequipa. None of the 
most trustworthy historians allude to these inscriptions or 
representations, or give the smallest direct information con- 



del obispado de Truxillo ; con un confesonario y todas las oraciones 
cotidianas y otras cosas. Lima por Juan de Contreras, 1644, 16mo. 

XIII. Roxo Mexia y Ocon (Don Juan, natural de Cuzco). Arte de la 
lengua general de los Indios del Peru. En Lima por Jorge Lopez de 
Herrera, 1648, 8vo. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 107 

cerning the Peruvian hieroglyphics • from which it may 
plausibly be inferred that in the times of the Incas there 
was no knowledge of the art of writing in characters, and 
that all these sculptures are the remains of a very remote 
period. 

Montesinos is the only one who tells us that in the first 
centuries after the conquest of Peru by the Americans, under 
the reign of Huainacavi-Pirhua, the use of letters was known : 
but that it was lost afterward, under the reign of Titu, son 
of Titu Yupanqui Y. But we know how little confidence is 
to be placed in the statements of this author. 

In many parts of Peru, chiefly in situations greatly ele- 
vated above the level of the sea, are vestiges of inscriptions 
very much obliterated by time. The drawing below repre- 
sents a stone, two feet broad, which Dr. J. D. Yon Tschudi 
fo^p-d in an ancient settlement, a league from Huari. 




XIV. Melgar (Estevan Sancho de). Arte de la lengua general de» 
Inga, llamada Qquecchua. Lima por Diego de Lyra, 1691, 8vo. 

XV. Torres Rubio (Diego de, de la compania de Jesus) tercera edicion, 
y nuevamente van anadidos los Romances, el catecismo pequeno, todas 
las oraciones, los dias de fiesta y ayunos de los Indios, el Vocabulario 



108 PERU. 

In the last century, a European missionary among the 
Panos who dwell on the banks of the Ucayali, ipund, in the 
pampas of Sacramento, manuscripts, on a species of paper 
made of the leaf of the plantain, w r ith hieroglyphics joined 
together, as well as in simple characters, containing, accord- 
ing to the statements of the Indians, the history of the events 
of their ancestors ; but it remains to be ascertained whether 
they referred to the history of a nation who came from the 
North or the East, to the mountains of Ucayali, and who 
brought with them the knowledge of this writing, or 
whether it is a vestige of ancient civilization.* 

anadido y otro Yocabulario de la lengua Chinchaysuyu por el M. R. Juan 
de Figueredo. En Lima por Joseph de Contreras, 1700, 8vo. 

XVI. Torres Rubio (Diego de) cuarta edicion. Arte y Yocabulario de 
la lengua quichua general de los Indios del Peru, que compuso el Padre 
Diego de Torres Rubio de la compania de Jesus, y anadio el P. Juan de 
Figueredo de la misma compania. Ahora nuevamente corregido y 
aumentado en muchos vocablos y varias advertencias, notas y observa- 
ciones para la mejor inteligencia del Idioma y perfecta instruccion de los 
Parochos y Cathequistas de los Indios. Por un religioso de la misma 
compania. Lima, 1754, 8vo. 

This last is the most common, and many, in consequence thereof, con- 
sider it as the most ancient grammar which they can obtain ; while 
others, principally the Grammar and Vocabulary of Antonio Ricardo, and 
those of Domingo San Thomas, are to be classed among bibliographical 
rarities. 

*In the interior of South America, between the second and fourth 
degrees of North latitude, there extends a plain bounded by four rivers, 
viz., the Oronoco, the Atabasco, the Rio Negro, and Casiquiare. There 
are found on it rocks of granite and syenite, equal to those of Caicara 
and Uruana, covered with symbolical representations, colossal figures of 
crocodiles, tigers, likenesses of houses, and signs of the sun and moon. 
At this day this unfrequented region is entirely without population over a 
space of five hundred square miles. The neighboring tribes, exceedingly 
ignorant, lead a miserable vagrant life, and are not capable of drawing 
hieroglyphics. In South America, a belt of these rocks, thus covered 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 109 

Under the reign of the Incas, in place of characters, the 
Peruvians used colored threads, knotted in different modes, 
and called Quippus. 

It is certain that this method of writing (if so it may be 
called) was not original in Peru, and it is probable that it 
was given to the natives by the first Inca : since, in various 
parts of Central Asia, and particularly in China, it was the 
custom from a very remote period to resort to these knotted 
threads, as in Peru, Mexico and Canada. 

The Peruvian Quippus are of twisted wool, and consist of 
a string or large cord as the base of the document, and of 
threads more or less fine, which are fastened by knots to it. 
These branches (if so we may call them) include the con- 
tents of the Quippo, expressed either by single knots or by 
artificial intertwinings. The size of the Quippus is very 
different ; sometimes the base cord is five or six yards long, 
at others, it is not more than a foot ; the pendant strings or 
branches rarely exceed a yard in length, and, in general, are 
shorter. In the neighborhood of Lurin, we found a Quippo 
which weighed twelve and a half pounds, and we doubt 
not there were some even more bulky still. To give some 
idea of the strings which form a very large Quippo that we 
took from a cemetery of the natives who lived about Pacha- 
camac, we here insert the drawing of a fragment. 

with symbolic emblems, may be followed from Rupunuri, the Essequibo, 
and the Pacaraima mountains, to the banks of the Oronoco and the 
Yupura, over an extent of more than eight degrees of longitude. These 
marks thus engraved in the rocks, may belong to several different epochs, 
for Sir Robert Schomberg has seen on the Rio Negro a delineation of a 
Spanish ship, which, of course, must be of later origin than the commence- 
ment of the sixteenth century ; and this in a savage country, where the 
indigenous stock was probably quite as uncultivated as the present in- 
habitants. — Humboldt's Ansitchten der Natur. 3. Ausgabe. Bd. I. pag. 240. 
Views of Nature, 3d edition, Vol. I. p. 240. 



110 



PERU. 




PERUVIAN QUIPPO. 

The different colors of the threads have different mean- 
ings : thus, the red signifies a soldier or war ; the yellow, 
gold ; the white, silver or peace ; the green, wheat or maize, 
&c. In the arithmetical system, a single knot means ten; 
two single knots joined, twenty ; a knot doubly intertwined, 
one hundred; triply, one thousand; two of the last united, 
two thousand, &c. Hot only is the color and mode of inter- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. Ill 

twining the knots to be considered, but even the mode of 
twisting the thread, and particularly the distance of the 
knot from the junction of the thread with the base cord, are 
of great importance to a proper understanding of the Quippo. 
It is probable that these knots were, at first, applied to 
purposes of numeration only, but in the course of time, this 
science was so much perfected that those skilled in it at- 
tained to the art of expressing by knots historical relations, 
laws and decrees, so that they could transmit to their de- 
scendants the most striking events of the empire ; and thus 
the Quippus might supply the place of documents and 
chronicles. The registers of taxes ; the enrolment of tribes ; 
distinguishing between the tax-payers, the aged, the invalids, 
women and children ; the lists of the armies, their arms, 
soldiers, officers and stations; the inventories of the large 
quantities of wheat, maize, arms, shoes and clothing in the 
public magazines ; the registers of deaths and births ; all 
these matters were specified with admirable exactitude in the 
Quippus. In every city of any note, there was an officei 
called Quippu- camay 00^ whose business it was, at all times, 
to knot and decipher these documents. But notwithstand- 
ing their skill, whenever a Quippu came from a distant 
province, it was necessary it should be accompanied by a 
verbal commentary, sufficient, at least, to indicate the subject 
matter of Avhich it treated; as, for instance, whether it re- 
lated to tribute, or the enrolment of tribes, &c. To mark 
the events of their respective districts, these officials had 
certain signs at the commencement of the mother thread, or 
base cord, which had a meaning intelligible to them only; 
and the Quippus which related to the same subject were al- 
ways preserved together in certain repositories, that there 
might be no risk of error by changing, or mixing a military 
Quippu with one concerning taxes, &c. 



112 PERU. 

Even at this day, in the country, Quippus are used for the 
purpose of numeration. Such is the case on many haciendas 
and cattle stations. On the first thread or branch, the herds- 
men commonly place the bulls, on the second the milch- 
cows, on the third those which are dry, and afterward fol- 
low the calves, according to age and sex. So, too, as to 
animals producing wool ; they are arranged in various sub- 
divisions, as also are the number of foxes killed, the quan- 
tity of salt used, and the specification of cattle that have 
died. 

Eepeated attempts made in our day to read the Quippus, 
have proved failures, because of the very great difficulty of 
deciphering them. In effect each single knot represents 
some notion or thought, while there is wanting (for a mean- 
ing) a quantity of conjunctions or links. Besides, there is 
another and greater impediment in the interpretation of the 
Quippus found in the Huacas; and that is the want of a 
verbal commentary to explain the subject matter of the 
document ; and even with this advantage, it would still re- 
quire the aid of the most skilful Quippu-camayoc. We think 
that there are still, in the southern provinces of Peru, Indians 
who know very well how to decipher these intricate memo- 
rials, but they guard their knowledge as a sacred secret, in- 
herited from their ancestors. 

The opinion of the Prince of San Severo, who published 
in Naples a memoir, pretending to prove that the knots of 
the Quippus served as letters, is so erroneous as not to merit 
refutation. 

Considering this defective system of writing, it ought not 
to cause surprise that the Quichua language wants an ancient 
literature, at least, any that is intelligible to us. And even 
though there may still exist a possibility of forming a 
national literature with European characters, yet even this 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 113 

field remains sterile, awaiting the culture of genius and 
patriotism. How insufficient are the translations of first 
lessons in the Christian religion, made by the missionaries, 
as specimens of the language of a nation having such a his- 
tory as Peru ! 

A system of subjugation, and of colonization wretchedly 
defective, the barbarism of the epoch, and the brutality of 
the conquering adventurers, have made shipwreck of im- 
mense treasures which were found deposited in an idiom so 
rich, so elegant, so flexible and harmonious. 

A short time after the conquest, at the beginning of the 
latter half of the sixteenth century, the Christian doctrine 
was translated into Quichua by the Franciscan friars ; the 
Dominicans who came with the first conquerors, moved by 
religious zeal, were not occupied in converting the Indians 
by force of the Word alone, but, with fire and sword as 
accompaniments, preached the Gospel. To the Jesuits 
belongs the merit of having most perfectly elaborated those 
translations which are found, as an appendix, in almost everjf 
grammar of the general language. We here present speci 
mens of the Quichuan literature, commencing with an ele 
gant translation of the Lord's Prayer : * 

* We transfer these specimens to a note. — [Translator.] 
Lord's Prayer in the Quichuan Language. 

Yayacu hanacpac hacunapi cac ; sutiyqui muchhasca cachun ; ccapaccay- 
niyqui hocaycuman hamuchun; munayhiyqui rurasca cachun; imainam 
hanacpachapi, hinatac, cay pachapipas ; ypunchaunincuna ttantaycucta 
cunan cohuaycu ; huchaycuctari pampachapuhuaycu imanam hocaycupas, 
hocaycuman huchallicuccunacta, pampachaycu liina. Amaiac cacharihuay- 
citchu huateccayman urmanccaycupac ; yallinrac, mana allimantac quespi- 
chihuaycu. Amen. 

We have in our possession a very rare book, printed in 1648, entitled 
" Sermons on the Mysteries of our holy Catholic Faith in the Spanish and 
general Language of the Inca ; impugning the particular errors which are 



114 



PERU. 



But these illustrations of the language (contained in the 
note) are but fragments little adapted to convey an exact 
idea of the grammatical construction, or of the beauties and 
peculiarities of this interesting idiom, which is so flexible 
that translations of Greek and Latin odes have been made 
into it with great ease. Unfortunately, however, these speci- 
mens have never been published. 

Among all civilized nations, poetry was the earliest form 



held by the Indians ; by Doctor Don Fernando de Avendano." 
these we give some passages, with a translation : 



From 



Cat checcan simi yachachisccai- 
mantam, machuiquichiccunap lloclla 
pachacuti, Dilubiohisccamanta pacha, 
runacunap paccarinacunamanta his- 
cancuna llullu simi casccanta unan- 
chanquichic. 

Hue machucunam ari nincuna 
lloclla pachacuti yalliptinmi hanacc- 
pachamanta quimga runtu urmamu- 
roccan, iiaupacc ninmi ccori runtu 
carccan ; cai ccori runtumantam 
curacacuna paccarimurccan. Iscay- 
neqquenmi collqqueruntu carccan, 
caimantam nustacuna yurimurccan. 



This truth which I have taught 
you, makes you to see that those 
things are fables which your old 
men have told you, of the origin 
of men after the deluge. 

Some old men say, that after the 
deluge there fell three eggs from 
heaven ; one of gold, from which 
the Curacas were born ; another of 
silver, out of which were born the 
Nustas ; and another of copper, from 
which came these last Indians. 
Tell me, my children, are the Cura- 



Quimzaheqquenmi ccana anta runtu cas chickens, seeing they came out 



of an egg of gold ? Can you not 
see that the whole story is a thing 
to be laughed at ? 



carccan, caimantatacmi huaquin 
yancca runacuna llocgimurccan. Cai- 
hinam hue machuiquichiccuna ri- 
mancu. Cunan tapuscayquichic 
churicuna; curacacuna chiu chichu 
ccori runtumanta paccarimunancu- 
pacc ? Manachu caita rimay aciccui- 
pacc cascanta ricunquichic ? 

[Other passages are presented in the work we are translating; but as 
they are mere specimens of the Quichua language, the foregoing will 
suffice for the English reader. — Translator.] 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 115 

of literature ; and before they found characters to perpetuate 
their annals and productions, they preserved in verses the 
acts of their ancestors, and the current of their thoughts. 
In all the Indian languages, even the most barbarous, vesti- 
ges of this literature are found, and it is worthy of note that 
triumphal songs, and songs of war, are the most ancient 
poetical productions of the American nations. Of the 
ancient Peruvian poetry but few remains have come to our 
knowledge, although among the Indians are preserved many 
beautiful songs of past times, and worthy of being gathered 
into a printed collection. 

The amautas, or philosophers, were the poets who composed 
festive songs, comedies and tragedies ; and the Haravicus 
(inventors) formed another class of poets who composed 
elegiac verses. It cannot be denied that the poetry reached 
a certain degree of perfection, by using in the amorous 
songs either four-syllable verses only, or by alternating them 
with trisyllabic lines; in the triumphal songs, six-syllable 
verse, or the less roundelay, was used ; in the comedies, and 
in the larger part of the Haravis, the greater roundelay, or 
eight-syllable verse, was used. In all these forms of verse, 
rhyme may or may not be used. 

The Haravis, or elegiac songs, form the most interesting 
part of the Quichuan poetry ; the subject is usually un- 
happy love, and it is hard to say which most to admire in 
them, the harmonious mechanical composition, or the expres- 
sion of the effects of despairing, overwhelming grief. 

It would seem that dramatic poetry was highly esteemed 
and much cultivated in the time of the Incas. According 
to Garcilasso, those of the Inca lineage, and others of noble 
blood, were accustomed, on solemn days and festivals, to act 
comedies and tragedies before the monarch and the nobility 
at court. The subjects of the tragedies were military 



116 PERtr. 

achievements, triumphs and victories, the exploits and gran- 
deur of former kings and other heroic men : the topics of 
the comedies were derived from agriculture, from the farm, 
and familiar household affairs. To such performers as dis- 
tinguished themselves presents were made of jewels and 
gifts of value. Happily, we have one specimen of this spe- 
cies of composition, consisting of a tragic drama in three 
acts, which we consider the most important literary produc- 
tion to be found in any of the American languages. We 
know nothing with certainty of its author, nor of the period 
of its production ; and it does not appear certain whether it 
has descended to us by tradition from the times of the Incas, 
or whether it is the work of a more modern genius. Some 
believe that it was composed in the latter half of the fifteenth 
century, and represented in the plaza of Cuzco, before the 
Incas ; others, on the contrary, think that it is the work of a 
skilful author of a more recent date. The first of these 
opinions has many circumstances in its support, since the 
language of the piece is not as corrupt as it was in the later 
periods of its use : a few Castilian words found in the exist- 
ing copy, and certain unskilful phrases, are easily seen to 
have been made or added by copyists. It is, however, cer- 
tain that copies of this work, written in the sixteenth or 
seventeenth century, are preserved in various private libra- 
ries of Cuzco. 

This drama bears the title of Ollanta, or the Severity of a 
Father and the Generosity of a King. The first act is laid at 
the close of the fourteenth century, the other two cover the 
first ten or twelve years of the fifteenth. The hero of the 
piece is the celebrated chief Ollanta, whose name is still pre- 
served in a bridge, a fortress and a palace, and whose deeds 
are to this day well known among the Indians of Peru. 
His love for Cusi Coyllur, daughter of the Inca Pachacutec, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 117 

the harshness of this monarch toward his child, her im- 
prisonment, the rebellion of Ollanta, with its success at first, 
his final ruin and subjection by Ruminahui, the general of 
the Inca Yupanqui, son of Pachacutec, and the generosity of 
this Inca toward Ollanta and Cusi Coyllur, form the sub- 
stance of the drama, which is written in a masterly manner.* 

The Quichua language has various dialects strongly mark- 
ed. In the north is the Quiterto } the most impure, full of 
words of other idioms, and with very corrupt grammatical 
forms ; the Lamana, spoken in various parts of the depart- 
ment of Libertad ; the Yunca, in the bishopric of Truxillo ; 
the Chinchaysuyu, in the department of Cerro de Pasco ; the 
Cauqui, in the province of Yauyos ; the Calchaqui, in Tucu- 
man ; the Cusqueno, in the departments of the south. This 
last named is the pure Quichua, which alone should be taken 
as the standard by the student. 

The Ay mar a language, spoken in Bolivia, is very much 
like the Quichua, and doubtless came from the same root. 
Yery many words in the two idioms are identical, and even 
in the grammatical structure there is a very striking resem- 
blance. The German Jesuit, W. Bayer, published, in the 
Aymara and Latin languages, a sermon on the passion of 
our Lord, which was printed in one of the scientific periodi- 
cals of Germany. f 

The Puquina language, spoken in some of the valleys of 
the coast, and also of the mountains of Peru, is radically 
different from all the rest, and indeed has no affinity with 
any other American idiom. 

According to Garcilasso, the Incas had a private language 

* Dr. Yon Tschudi, in his work on the Quichua language, has given at 
length this curious literary production. 

t Murr Journal fur Kunst und Literatur. Vol. I., pp. 112 — 121 ; YoL 
II., pp. 297—334 ; Yol. III., pp. 55—100. 



118 PERU. 

which no one save those belonging to the royal lineage dared 
to learn. Unhappily, we are without data on which to form 
an opinion about it. 

We hope that the preceding observations will serve to 
stimulate the zeal of the Peruvians, and lead them to culti- 
vate the beautiful primitive language of their native land, by 
establishing in their colleges chairs devoted to instruction 
in it. 

NOTE. 



Walter Raleigh, in the description of his voyage to Guiana, (foL 97 



NOTE. 



There is, we think, much in this chapter calling for remark, not to say 
correction. We are constrained to believe our author did not possess the 
latest sources of information as to the languages of North America par- 
ticularly. In speaking of the radical languages, he copies the statement 
of Mr. Jefferson, who probably had never studied one of them, and who, 
at any rate, was exceedingly inaccurate, as the labors of subsequent 
philologists, like Pickering and Gallatin, have shown. 

In fact, he who has studied most carefully our American languages, 
will be most cautious in making general conclusions. A scholar now 
engaged upon them, (Professor William W. Turner) and who, at least in 
the view of the present writer, has probably no equal, certainly no supe- 
rior in this department of letters, would have told our author that the 
materials are as yet too scanty to justify sweeping, general assertions ; 
while such a declaration from such a source would have been quite 
enough for every American philologist, who has seen the recent publica- 
tion of Mr. Riggs' Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakota language, by 
the Smithsonian Institute, and knows the part which Mr. Turner bore in 
its preparation. 

What is said in the text must be taken with large allowances. It is 
not true that all the languages of North and South America are charac- 
terized by what Duponceau called polisyntheticism. Mr. Gallatin has 
already stated that the Otomi and others are not so ; and some of the 
best of our philologists entertain more than a suspicion that future inves- 
tigations are likely, from present indications, to show that such a charac- 
teristic is not universal, though it doubtless exists in many instances. 

Neither are we prepared, after some study of the South American 
languages, to admit that four- fifths of them are radically different. Tested 
both grammatically and lexically, such has not proved to us to be the 
case. The fact is, that the number of families into which the South 

(119) 



120 PERU. 

American idioms may be resolved, is small ; smaller, indeed, than in 
North America ; and one single language, the Guarani, is the root of a 
very large number, spread over a very large surface. We believe we 
speak the opinion of the best American philologists when we say that, 
the further researches are made, the more do we reach the probability 
that here, as in the other hemisphere, a comparatively' few parent 
tongues will finally be found to have furnished in their offshoots the 
various dialects of both North and South America. But, as has already 
been intimated, the want of sufficient material compels the candid 
ethnologist to suspend his judgment. 

There is to the present writer something extraordinary in the asser- 
tion of the text that among eight or nine thousand American words, 
there is but one to be found "' analogous in sense and sound to a word of 
any idiom of the ancient continent;" and that in two-fifths of these 
eight or nine thousand, " it was necessary to violate the sound to find 
the same meaning." We are quite sure that if the examination be made 
by one at all acquainted with the canons of comparative philology, a 
very different result will appear. The resemblances may not justify, in- 
deed, a general conclusion of common origin, but they are more numer- 
ous than our author represents. 

As to the word inU, which our author states " unquestionably derives 
its origin from the Sanscrit root Indh, to shine," &c, and which he de- 
clares to be "identical with the East India word Tndra, the sun," we 
know not whether this be the one word to which he alludes, but we do 
know that it is not "identical;" and further, that when he says it was a 
word that belonged to the secret vocabulary of the Incas, he states 
that of which neither he nor any man living can speak with absolute 
certainty. Where at this day is the secret language of the Incas to 
be found? He himself states that " unhappily we are without data on 
which to form an opinion about it." 

As to the remarks of our author on the grammatical structure of the 
Quichua and Moxa languages, according to the grammars in our posses- 
sion, they are in general correct. The singularity to which he alludes, 
of these languages (which we believe to belong to different families) 
being spoken by two neighboring nations, while beyond the Moxas, the 
Quichua was again found in another tribe, is one that is seen more than 
once in our American languages. Velasco states that the Peruvians found 
the Quichua, or a dialect of it, spoken at Quito, when they conquered 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 121 

it, although it was generally unknown in the intermediate country ; and 
Mr. Prescott remarks on it as a singular fact if true. (Conq. of Peru, 
Vol. I. p. 124, note.) It is, we think, probably true ; several such in- 
stances occur. Mr. Turner has recently discovered, for instance, that the 
language of our Apaches belongs to that of the Althapascas. Parallel 
cases have been met with in the Eastern hemisphere. 

The verb is not, as our author states, uniform in possessing the pecu- 
liarities which he describes as belonging to all our languages. They are 
found in some only. Neither is he correct in supposing that the " inclu- 
sive and exclusive " plural are universal, nor that all our languages have 
a dual number. 

As to writing, we are not aware that the " Hurons, Iroquois and 
Indians of Louisiana " ever had anciently a system of undecipherable 
hieroglyphics ; which our author seems to think is now lost. They had, 
and still have, the usual rude pictorial representations of most, if not all, 
of our North American tribes ; and they are by no means undecipher- 
able to an Indian. Our author imputes the want of a literature among 
our natives to the absence of representative characters ; by which we 
suppose he means an alphabet. We are not sure that there are not 
alphabetic characters on some of our Central American monuments; 
but we leave the result of our researches on that head to the larger work 
to which we have alluded in our prefatory note. Our tiuthor himself 
refers to the Panoes, and from his statement it might be inferred that they 
possessed an alphabet, for he speaks of u single characters." Few sub- 
jects have more interested American antiquarians than these writings 
among the Panoes. These were a tribe of Indians who lived on the 
Ucayali River, and a short time before Baron Humboldt was there, a 
Franciscan missionary, as Humboldt states, found among them bundles 
of their paper resembling our volumes in quarto, and an old man, sitting 
at the foot of a palm-tree, read from one to several young persons sitting 
around him. They were very reluctant to permit the white man even to 
approach, but at length he succeeded in procuring one of the books, which 
he sent to Lima. What became of it does not appear. We are disposed 
to think, from Humboldt's account, that the leaves contained paintings; 
perhaps there were also alphabetic characters. 

As to the Cherokee language, and the alphabet formed by the native 
Sequoiah or Guess, as he is called, it must be recollected that this very 
clever Indian did not so much invent as apply what was already known, E[is 



122 PERU. 

first effort was prompted by the fact he had observed, that the English or 
Anglo-Americans about him could express the sounds of their speech by 
written marks; he accordingly tried (in conformity with the Chinese 
mode, by the way) to make a distinct character for each Cherokee word. 
This, however, required so many different characters that he soon aban- 
doned the plan ; and then, with singular ingenuity, he devoted himself to 
a minute observation of the various s'ounds employed in the Cherokee, 
and found that they amounted to but eighty-five. This was not an 
unmanageable number, and he readily made a mark to express each one of 
these sounds : nearly all of his marks, however, were adopted from forms 
supplied by our alphabet. Thus it will be seen that what he made was a 
syllabic alphabet of eighty-five sounds, each represented by its own 
character. Now, it is to be remarked, that the Cherokee possesses a 
peculiarity, but for which G-uess could not have made his alphabet. It 
has very few double consonants in it, and, as in the Polynesian languages, 
every syllable terminates in a vocal sound. Sequoiah, doubtless, in what he 
did, manifested unusual cleverness for one of his race, but we have not 
been accustomed to call him, as our author does, " one of the most dis- 
tinguished men of America." 



CHAPTER VI. 

SCIENTIFIC CULTUKE UNDER THE DYNASTY OF THE INCAS. 

The political institutions and the imperfect means used to 
supply the art of writing, were two powerful obstacles which 
impeded all scientific progress among the ancient Peruvians. 

As we have already seen in the fourth chapter, the stems 
of the royal stock only fully enjoyed the advantages of edu- 
cation ; while, supported by a humiliating protection, the 
common masses were denied an entrance into the sanctuary 
of science, obliged to follow the profession of their fathers, 
to prevent them from becoming proud and dazzled by the 
light of truth, and from refusing obedience to the constituted 
authorities. 

There prevailed, under the sceptre of the Incas, the system 
of increasing the importance of the empire, more by extend- 
ing the territory than by an increase of the intellectual 
culture of the inhabitants ; military tactics were among them 
the chief object of education. For this purpose, there were 
in Ouzco and other principal cities, academies under the 
superintendence or direction of ancient Incas, to instruct the 
young disciples in all military and knightly exercises, as well 
theoretical as practical, and from them came the chiefs for 
the different armies. 

The representatives of the other sciences did not belong 
to the priesthood, as in Europe during the barbarous centu- 
ries of the Middle Age, but formed the separate class of the 
Amautas or sages who lived in those establishments of leam- 
ClSB) 



124 PEKU. 

ing (Yachahuasi), in which the pupils were under the 
severest inspection, instructing them in the deeds of their 
forefathers ; explaining to them the laws and principles of 
the art of governing ; teaching them astronomy, arithmetic, 
and the art of the Quippus, and initiating them in the myste- 
ries of religion. Some of the Incas, particularly Inca-Kocca, 
Pachacutec, and Tupa-Yupanqui, favored these schools to 
such an extent, that they ordered to be constructed in their 
immediate neighborhood sumptuous palaces ; as in Cuzco, that 
of Cora-Cora and of Casana, that they might visit the 
schools with the greater facility, and, according to Garci- 
lasso, to them the Inca Pachacutec resorted to compile his 
laws and statutes. 

We will now examine the intellectual character of the 
Peruvians, under a scientific aspect, and the knowledge 
which the Amautas had treasured up, and which they trans- 
mitted to their pupils. 

Of all the branches which compose abstract philosophy, 
the only one which was cultivated was the moral duties 
arising from religious belief. It does not appear that they 
devoted themselves to the deep and thorny branch of meta- 
physics, nor did they permit their pupils to inquire into 
what they maintained as theocracy ; and it is probable that 
their knowledge was limited to the scanty and confused 
ideas supplied to them by the priesthood. 

Neither did they excel in jurisprudence. The simplicity 
of the Peruvian code required few commentaries, the judges 
were obliged to determine all law-suits in less than five 
daj^s ; the penal laws were similar to those in Europe, the 
military laws short and sanguinary, penal justice was rapid 
and implacable, after the Turkish manner, nay, more than 
this, at times arbitrary. 

•Jhe medical art pertained also in part to the sphere of 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 125 

the Amautas, from whom came such of the faculty as had 
in charge the person of the Inca. Where the common masses 
were concerned, they consulted for their rare and slight mala- 
dies their herbalists and old women. In either case the 
curative knowledge was a quackery and limited, and they 
endeavored to mitigate the most alarming symptoms of the 
malady without any nosological or thereapeutic system. Of 
all the means of discovery used by our physicians to form a 
diagnosis, they knew of but one, i. e v the state of the 
mucous membrane of the tongue. If this presented a white 
or yellow appearance, they supposed the existence of gastric 
difficulties, and had recourse to one of their universal medi- 
cines, i. e., the root of the Huachancana, a plant of the family 
of the Euphorbia, whose drastic and emetical effect is very 
similar to that of tartar-emetic. Studying the medicinal 
herbs, which are at present used among the Indians, without 
consulting physicians, but looking to their ailments, an accu- 
rate knowledge of the pharmacy of the ancient Peruvians 
may be obtained, as the medicaments, with their beneficial 
effects, have passed from generation to generation. Thus, in 
this day, as in the time of the Incas, they use the Peruvian 
bark, the Checasoconche, the Chenchelcome, the Chillca, the 
Chinapaya, the Chucumpu, the Huacra-huacra, the Huari- 
turu (Valeriana Coarctata), the Llamapnahui (Negretia-in- 
flexa), the Maprato or Batana (Krameria-triandria), the Masca, 
the Matecllu, the Moho-moho, the Mulli, the Parhataquia 
(MoKna-prostrata), the Panqui, the Tasta, and many other 
medicinal plants. They also used balsams ; also a piece of 
the navel-string of a child, which they deemed an efficacious 
remedy in many of the diseases of children ; the skull of 
the An ta, or great beast (lapirus Americanus), against the 
gulta rosacea* 

* Even at the present day, the Camatas Indians traverse almost every 



126 PERU. 

The Amautas had begun to learn that in certain cases it 
was necessary to diminish the quantity of blood in the 
human frame, and to this effect they practised bleeding, but 
always in the vicinity of the diseased part. The instrument 
which they employed was a small stone, very sharp, fastened 
in a cleft stick ; this they placed over the vein, which, by 
means of a slight'blow, they opened, producing a flow of 
blood, which, more than our mode of bleeding, was similar 
to local depletion, or to scarifying and cupping. 

The chirurgical operator was entirely unknown to the 
Peruvian faculty. Wounds, bruises, contusions, in one word, 
all external hurts were cured with balsams and medicinal 
leaves, without the least idea of the amputation of limbs, 
the opening of abscesses with cutting instruments, the 
sewing up of serious wounds, the application of fire, or many 
other chirurgical operations practised in Europe. The frac- 
ture of bones was cured, in the interior of the country, with 
an herb called Huarituru ; and on the coast by wrapping the 
fractured limb up in several species of marine plants. The 
branch of obstetrics was not practised by the faculty ; the 
ancient matrons assisted women in that critical situation. 

The knowledge of the Amautas in mathematical sciences 
was almost nothing. Notwithstanding their excellent system 
of numeration, the graphic process of the Quippus was so 
rudimental and insufficient that none could go much beyond 
the first elements of arithmetic. Neither did they know 
theoretical geometry, although they were obliged to make 
a frequent use of the application of it, in that which con- 
cerned their own extensive territory, which they represented 
by means of maps, with protuberances, indicating limits and 

year Southern America with collections of medicines, from their moun- 
tains, which they sell at high prices. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 127 

localities ; also in the distribution of lands, in stone-cutting, 
and, finally, in their admirable architecture, resolving very 
difficult problems with the greatest ease and most perfect 
exactitude. 

In spite of the boasted relation of their monarchs to the 
Sun, the Peruvians had made but small progress in astron- 
omy, and in this respect the Amautas were very inferior to 
the Mexican priesthood. The almost total want of mathe- 
matical knowledge did not permit them to deduce by calcu- 
lation the annual movements of the sun, and they were 
obliged to resort to mechanical means in order to determine 
the" principal variations of its course, by the aid of which 
they fixed the times of the solstices and the equinoxes. The 
method by which they discovered the exact time of the 
solstices is described by Garcilasso (Comment. L, Book II., 
Chap. XXII.) in the following manner : — 

"The times of Summer and Winter solstices they deter- 
mined by the large characters of Eight Towers, which they 
had erected to the east, and as many to the west, ef the 
city, Cuzco ; being ranked four and four in several positions, 
those two in the middle being higher than the other two at 
each end, and were built much in the form of the watch- 
towers in Spain : when the sun came to rise exactly opposite 
to four of these towers, which were to the east of the city, 
and to set just against those in the west, it was then the 
summer solstice ; and in like manner when it came to rise 
and set just with the other four towers on each side of the 
city, it was then the winter solstice." 

As the same author relates, " to denote the precise day of 
the equinoctial they had erected pillars of the finest marble in 
the open area before the temple of the sun, which, when the 
sun came near the time, the priests daily watched and 
attended to observe what shadow the pillars cast ; and to 



128 PERU. 

make it more exact, they fixed on them a gnomon like the 
pin of a dial, so that so soon as the sun at its rising came to 
dart a direct shadow by it, and that at its height, or mid-day, 
the pillar made no shade, they then concluded that the sun 
was entered the equinoctial line, at which time they adorn- 
ed these pillars with garlands and odoriferous herbs, and 
placed upon them the seat or chair of the sun, saying that 
on that day he appeared in his most glittering throne and 
majesty, and therefore made their offerings of gold and sil- 
ver, and precious stones, to him with all the solemnities of 
ostentation and joy usual at such festivals. Thus the Incas 
and Amautas having observed that when the sun came to the 
equinoctial these pillars made little shadow at noon-day, and 
that those in the city of Quito and those of the same degree 
to the sea-coast made none at all, because the sun is then per- 
pendicularly over them, they concluded that the position of 
those countries was more agreeable and pleasing to the sun 
than those on which, in an oblique manner only, he darted 
the tightness of his rays."* 

The Amautas noted the movements of Yenus, the only 
planet which attracted their attention, and which they venera- 
rated as a page of the sun. They knew some few of the con- 
stellations, such as the Hyades, which they called Ahuaraca- 
qui, or jaw-bone of the tapir, and the Plyades, Oncoy Coyllur. 
As all the nations were not versed in the course of the heaven- 
ly bodies, they were frightened at the eclipses of the sun and 
moon, principally at those of the latter planet, believing that it 
threatened to burst or explode upon the earth ; and to avoid 

* We have here followed the old translation of Garcilasso by Sir Paul 
Rycaud, which, though far from literal and often inaccurate, yet in this 
instance conveys the meaning of the original with sufficient distinctness 
to make it intelligible, and with more brevity than was possible in a literal 
translation. — [Translator.] 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 129 

the danger, they broke forth in a frightful shouting, endeavor- 
ing to make all the noise possible from the time that the eclipse 
began, with instruments of all descriptions, also beating the 
dogs to make them howl and augment the general confusion. 

The phases of the moon (Quilla) they explained by say- 
ing that the planet was sick when it began to decrease, and 
for this reason they called the decline huanuc-quilla, or dying 
moon : they gave the name of mosoc-quilla to the new moon ; 
to the crescent, puca-quilla, or colored moon, and quilla- 
huanuy, or dead moon, to the moon in conjunction. The 
entire lunation they divided into four equal quarters, begin- 
ning always with the first day of the new moon : thus the 
first section or period lasted until the day of the fourth 
crescent, the second until the opposition, the third until the 
fourth decline, and the fourth until the conjunction. They 
counted the months by moons, but the year from one winter 
solstice to another ; this they subdivided into twelve equal 
parts, forming thus a solar year, by which they regulated 
their husbandry. The time which remained from the end 
of the lunar year until the completion of the solar was 
called puchuc-quilla, or residue of the moon, and was devoted 
to leisure. They distributed the solar year into four seasons : 
the spring, or panchin* from the vernal equinox to the sum- 
mer solstice : the summer, or rupay-mitla, from the summer 
solstice to the equinox of autumn : the autumn, uma-raymi, 
from the equinox of autumn to the winter solstice ; and the 
winter, or para-mttta, called also casacpuchu, from the win- 
ter solstice to the vernal equinox. At each one of these 
four seasons they celebrated a general, solemn feast. 

Montesinos tells us that the king Inti-Capac renewed the 
computation of the time, which was being lost, and that they 
counted the years in his regin by 365 days and six hours, 

* Or tuctu. from the bud or stem of the corn flower. 



130 ' PERU. 

and the years he computed by decades of ten years : each ten 
decades made a century of a hundred years, and each ten centu- 
ries made a capac-huata, (powerful year), or Intiphuata, which is 
one thousand years, that is, the great year of the sun. Thus 
they counted the periods or memorable deeds of their kings. 

The same author assures us that the king Yahuar-Huquiz, 
a skilful astronomer, discovered a necessity for intercalating 
a day every four years, to form a bissextile or leap-year ; 
but he renounced this plan in favor of another, which seemed 
more advantageous, and which his better judgment decided 
should be arranged by the Amautas, and so one year was 
intercalated at the end of four centuries. In memory of 
this king, the Indians called the leap-year Huquiz, v/hich 
was previously called Allca-AUca, and for the same reason 
they gave to the month of May the name Huar-Huquiz. 
Such is the assertion of Montesinos, an assertion very erro- 
neous, if we may judge from the silence of other historians, 
from the absence of all monuments which prove the ex- 
istence of such a calendar, and from the little credit to be 
given to the above-mentioned author. The wise Peruvians 
did not divide the day into hours, and could not keep an 
exact astronomical account, possessing, as they did, an 
arithmetical kuowledge so scanty, and so badly supplied 
with graphic means. Notwithstanding, it is possible that 
the Amautas counted the years by the decimal system. 

The year (Huata) was divided, as we have seen, into twelve 
months, and began, according to some authors, in the sum- 
mer solstice, at the end of June ; according to others, in the 
winter solstice, at the end of December. It is certain that 
in Cuzco it began with this latter month, and in Quito, 
according to the laws of Inca-Huayna-Capac, in the summer 
solstice. 

We will now explain the division into the months, with 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 131 

an enumeration of the principal occupations and feasts 
which took place in each. We follow, in the names, the 
etymology derived from the Quichua language, but as there 
is another set of names whose origin is less clear, not being 
the pure Quichua, nor belonging to any neighboring lan- 
guage, we have thought it best to place at the end of each 
month these names also. 

I. Ray mi (December, from raymi, a solemn dance). This 
first month of the year, as it began with the day of the 
winter solstice, was celebrated with general balls, music and 
singing. In that month was held one of the four principal 
feasts with solemn dances, preceded by a day of fasting. — 
(Sassippunchau).* 

There was an assemblage of the military chiefs with 
chosen troops, in Cuzco, for military exercises. — Camay quiz. 

II. Huckhuy-poccoy (January, from huchhuy, small, and 
poccoy, to ripen). Thus called because the corn began to form 
small ears. 

Continuing the military exercises, they exercised the 
soldiers, by competition principally in races. They re- 
warded the most dexterous and skilftJ. — Pura-Opiayquiz. 

III. Hatun-poccoy (February, from Hatun, great, and poccoy, 
to ripen). Thus called on account of the increased size of 
the corn. — Gac-Mayquiz. 

IV. Paucar-huaray (March). As regards the etymology 
of this name, says the presbyter, Don Juan de Velasco, (Hist. 
of the Kingdom of Quito, Vol. II. p. 40): " Paucar-Huaray 
signifies the month of spring, which unites the beginning with 
the end of the solar year ; since paitcar signifies the beauty 

* It is as well to observe that they counted the months from the 20th, 
21st, or 22d, according to the solstice, until the same day of the following 
month, so that the month which we call December — Raymi — included 
twelve days of January. 



132 PERU. 

of the colors which the flowers display during this time, 
and huatay signifies binding together. Historians write this 
name in various ways, erring from its having become cor- 
rupted, or through mis-information, saying : jpacar-huaruy, 
pacar huaray and pacar huatuy, finding for each, different 
etymologies, without foundation, and without discovering 
the true meaning in these corrupted words." 

In our opinion, the true name of this month is Paucar- 
hauray, from paucar, flowery place, beautiful meadow, and 
from Huaray, to place baskets under, and figuratively to 
unfold a carpet, since this month spreads itself upon the 
ground like a magnificent carpet. 

In it occurred the second principal feast of the year, pre- 
ceded by three days of fasting, and it was the memorable 
feast of the renovation of the sacred fire, or mosoc-nina. 
On the day of the equinox, the Inca waited, accompanied 
by all the priests and chief lords of the court, at the entrance 
of the chief temple for the rising of the sun, and by means 
of a metallic mirror, called Inca-rirpu, concentrated its 
first rays, setting fire with them to a piece of sacred cotton 
picked and prepared for this purpose. This substance was 
carried while burning to the temple, where the sacrifice and 
offerings to the sun were made, and afterward it furnished 
fire to all the houses. The Inca was also accustomed to 
distribute to all the assistants bread and sacred chicha. 
Finally, the feast was concluded with dancing, music, and 
general rejoicing. How similar is this ceremony to that 
which takes place on Easter day in the Christian worship ! — 
Pacar- Buar ay quiz. 

Y. Agrihuay (April). This word signifies an ear of corn 
with grains of divers colors. 

In this month began the harvest of this cereal, accompa- 
nied with dancing, music and copious libations, which degen- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 133 

erated into intoxi nation. There were premiums proposed 
for those who met with certain colors, determined beforehand, 
in the grains of the full ears. He who deserved the premium 
(missac) was celebrated throughout the nation. — Arihuaquiz. 

VI. Aymuray (May). Thus called because of the convey- 
ing of the corn to the public depositories and granaries, 
which took place in this month. The end of the harvest 
they celebrated clothed in gala dress, with music, chicha, 
dancing, and sportive games. They began to pull up the 
stubble preparatory to digging the earth. — Aymurayquiz. 

VII. Inti-JRaymi (June, from Inti, sun, and Raymi, dance). 
In this month was celebrated the third solemn feast, preceded 
by a fast. They rested from labor, giving themselves up to 
pleasure and enjoyment. — {Aucay-Cuxqui.) 

VIII. Anta-Asitua (July, from Anta, copper, and Asitua, 
great dance). This month, which many authors call simply 
Asitua, began at the summer solstice, and was the epoch of the 
military balls. Dressed in court robes, they made the troops 
perform splendid exercises, celebrated their feasts, and went 
through the streets with noisy music, accompanied by the 
people inebriated and dancing. 

They cultivated the land and prepared it for sowing, 
emptied chicha into the aqueducts and rivers, hoping to gain 
by this liberal sacrifice sufficient water for their fields. 
— Oh ahuar-Huayquiz. 

IX. Capac-Asitua (August, from Cfapac, powerful, and 
As-itua, great ball). 

They continued the feasts of the preceding month, and 
even with still greater splendor and solemnity. They also 
called this month Yapay-Asitua, the month of supplementary 
balls. They began at this time to sow corn, potatoes, sweet- 
root of Peru, and practise singular ceremonies, in order to 
expel beforehand all epidemical diseases. — Cituaquiz. 



134 PERU. 

X. Umu-Raymi (September, from Umu, head, and JRaymt, 
dance). In this month took place the enrolling of those 
liable to be taxed in the empire, and the verification of the 
prior register, celebrating for this purpose large feasts. 

They also denominated it Coyaraymi, because they married 
at that time the Coyas or royal princesses, to whose connec- 
tions succeeded those of the rest of the empire. 

The women wore gala dresses, and at this time was cele- 
brated the fourth principal feast, or Asitua-raymi, preceded 
by a day of fast. — Puscuayquiz. 

XT. Aya-Marca (October). We are not positively told 
the etymology of this word. The majority of historians 
write the name of this month, Ayarmaca, but in our opinion 
it should be written Ayamarca, from Aya, corpse, and Marca, 
carry in arms, because they celebrated the solemn feast of 
the commemoration of the dead with tears, lugubrious songs 
and plaintive music, and it was customary to visit the sepul- 
chres of relations and friends, and leave in them food and 
drink. It is worthy of remark, that this feast was celebra- 
ted among the ancient Peruvians at the same period and on 
the same day that the Christians solemnized the commemo- 
ration of the dead (2d of November). 

At this period the potters made large bottles for the 
chicha, and in each house was this beverage devoted to the 
feasts of the following month. — Cantarayquiz. 

XII. Capac-raymi (November, from capac and raymi). 

This was the last month, or that of the solemn balls to 
conclude the year. The feasts and dances possessed at times 
a character of excessive joy, which degenerated into intoxica- 
tion and licentiousness. In this epoch they finished sowing. 
In the public square of Cuzco, they were in the habit of repre- 
senting comedies and tragedies composed by the Amautas. 
At the same time the Peruvians amused themselves with 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 135 

different games, such as the huayrachina, or game of ball, the 
huayru, a species of dice, the chunca, a game of ball with 
sticks, the huatucay, a game of enigmas, etc. 

They held reunions and numerous assemblies in the 
capital and in the cities, under the direction of the princes. 
— Laymequiz. 

Their limited knowledge of astronomy did not permit the 
Peruvians to make any progress in the art of navigation. 
In their feeble vessels, constructed from the trunks of trees, 
a balsa, or raft with a mast, and skins of sea- wolves or mats 
of rushes for sails, fitted to explore the coasts of their terri- 
tory and interior lakes, they did not dare to launch out into 
the open sea, but contented themselves with the knowledge 
which they possessed of their own dominions on land, ac- 
quired by their conquests ; nevertheless they must have had 
some knowledge, from what is said by Huaynacajpac (to 
which Garcilasso refers) : "I suspect that those who have 
gone round by the coast of our sea, will prove to be a people 
we know ; they will be a brave people, and, at all events, 
will prove an advantage to us." It is also worth while to 
notice that which is referred to by Sor. Castelneau, that the 
mat or rush sails which they made use of in the lake of 
Titicaca, and the mode of taking them in, is identical 
with that which is seen upon the sepulchre of Barneses 
III. in Thebes. The construction of these weak floating 
machines, known by the name of balsas, and floats of rushes 
in actual use on the coast, and the small lakes of the Cordil- 
leras, has been taken for a model for steamboats, and life- 
boats in cases of shipwreck, made of gum-elastic and gutta- 
percha. These rafts serve commonly the purpose of smug- 
gling through the ports and coves with much facility, and it 
is easy to transport them without difficulty by land ; and as 
their cost is small, they attach so little value to them that 



136 PERU. 

they burn or destroy them when they have concluded this 
immoral traffic. 

In speaking of the Quichua language in our preceding 
chapter, we have already related all that was told us of the 
progress made by the Amautas in poetry, and especially in 
the dramatical line, which was the branch they cultivated 
from choice. We can easily recognize in the succinct ex- 
planation which we have given of the rural tasks, feasts and 
solemnities of the twelve months of the Peruvian year, the 
wise institutions of the Incas, whose skilful wisdom and 
benevolent perspicacity knew always how to combine the 
useful with the agreeable, as much to conduce to the public 
good as to advance individual welfare, rendering labor less 
heavy by means of an adequate combination of accompany- 
ing recreations. After the fatigue of sowing for the monarch 
was over, which took place after having done what was 
required for the lands belonging to the ' Sun ' and the nation, 
the Indians enjoyed representations of comedies, the object of 
which was the illustration of the social virtues, now of one 
member of the family for the others, now of the vassal for 
his monarch ; again, of an individual for the state, or of a 
private gentleman for his fellow-citizen. In the month of 
October, after the feast of the dead, they assisted in dramas 
or tragedies which represented scenes of the patriotic virtues 
of their ancestors ; and in the months of the military exercises, 
it was customary to perform comedies alluding to celebrated 
warlike deeds. 

We do not know the greater or less degree of perfection 
attained in the dramatic art, but there is no doubt that in 
the repeated representations of comedies, the actors reached 
great perfection. Without doubt the applause of the assist- 
ants, and the rich rewards which distinguished those v ao 
excelled, stimulated them to make progress in that bra ach. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



137 



Oratory was patronized by the Incas, and a gift highly es- 
teemed among them was a pure and soft pronunciation, as 
well in public speaking as in the theatres. 

All the compositions in verse, except the dramatic, were 
destined to be sung, and it is very probable that the same 
poets composed the music for the poems. There existed 
several ancient tunes very melodious, which might serve to 
test the musical knowledge of the ancient Peruvians. In 
order to form a correct idea of this music, we will insert 
here three haravis. 



L — HiRAvi in Sol Minor. 



~ L^lllill§^l 



-fe-^-g 



:b-3 



SIHii!ll!!lip!i 



r=^^ij!ip-:r = »iz^i'i== *r-|-j- [ : » — F— p [ 



ifaa 



138 



PERU. 



^^irgggpiigi 






[ 



CE E^ # j^_T2_._nJiJ r _ >H . X 



PV--P— i — CCET 






e- 



:JEg^j^==Ep|j;p== f 



-J^-rr 






ig3^ ^=Ni Eaa =a 



r . u,_!_i^ — i j — i ■_ 






^^p^fgpl 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



139 



II. — Habavi m La Minor. 



i 






_R^. 



^p^SP^ 



:^^%f 



'r-r-rt-r 



1 






m 



1 



£r 



Ete^^^ii 






( 



y ? f g r t F 



^ gfeg 



^m 



JE^iggE|ggpggpg:pg 



140 



PERU. 



[ 



*~ 



-#J> 



ggfe|g 



dgzz 



i 









^gt^flirf^Hgzas: 






3E: 



PiPlPi 



I 






-SL 






3-T^> 



III. — Haeavi in Re Minor. 



ITS 



i^nm^^^in 



§ss 



feg 



n 



e 



i 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES" 



141 






~^S& 



r* i 



EEE3 



-g — —g -: 



:^E5r 



s 



-« — rr 



l§Ip^^§ii 



=3=3- 



iP£ 



^ — *•- 






s5f"=E 



3= 



iggiiii^g 



:3-i 



zjl— 4J J-— .p— = 



T+r a 









"9 : 



lEillii^g^^ii^i 



142 



PERU. 



t Rn-rf-i-i !-rzq — M — V-r^-ftr-Hr 



m^mim 



£ 

4^f 



L 1 zrzrrnr: ^"^>^S~i — "-^~l 

sEjEEE£jgp^ig^P =^ gp 



£* 



IeeISeeI 



t — _j_j — . — t 



fc 3 



a~ 









ISJS: 



ICC 



i 



i* 



E=EJE^SE3EEE5»*H 



^ 



i^^il^^lliiEE^El 




PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



— m i-i — v-i* »r 



143 



t^reggs pji 




Although, naturally, the Indians possessed much fondness 
for music, we are forced to confess that this art was in its in- 
fancy before the arrival of the Spaniards. 

Eude and noisy instrumental music was liked in pro- 
portion to the disturbance it created. The greatest noise 
proceeded from the chhilchiles and chanares, certain timbrels 
and bells, and from the huancar or drum. Among the 
stringed instruments we know of none but the Tinya, a 
species of guitar, of five or six chords. Their wind instru- 
ments were the cqueppa, or trumpet : ccuyvi, or whistler, of 
five sounds : the jwncullu, or flute : the huayllaca, or the 
flageolet: the chhayna, a certain coarse flute, whose lugubri- 
ous and melancholy tones filled the heart with indescribable 
sadness and brought involuntary tears into the eyes. They 
attained to the greatest perfection with the huayra-puhura, an 
instrument which consisted of a species of sirinx or flute of 
Pan, made of canes attached by a thread, each one of which 
contained a note higher than the preceding one; this was 
the only instrument on which musicians could play in con- 
cert, all the others lacked in harmony. The huayra-puhura 
was made of reeds of cane or stone, and adorned sometimes 
with needlework. The French General Paroissien found in a 
huaca, over a corpse, one of these instruments, made of stone, 
(a species of talc) ; and in the Museum of Berlin is preserved 
a plaister mould of this interesting object, which the cele- 



144: PERU. 

brated Humboldt sent to the English physician Stewart 
Traill, with a letter, from which we extract the following 
notices, (vid. Minutoli, Description of an ancient city in 
Guatemala, etc., Berlin, 1832, notes, page 53, plate XIL, 

%. i.) 

The holes of the canes are cylindrical and regularly bored, 
and are three-tenths of an inch in diameter to the bottom of 
the bore. Their length is, 

Nr. 1, 4.90 inches, Ni\5, 2.45 inches, 

Nr. 2, 4.50 " Nr. 6, 2.85 " 

Nr. 3, 4.12 " Nr. 7, 2.00 " 

Nr. 4, 3.50 " Nr. 8, 1.58 " 

The canes Nrs. 2, 4, 6, and 7 contain small lateral holes, 
which, being open, give no sound, but closed give the 
following : 



:it 



Mi, fa, sol, la, re, ut, fa, la. 

This tetrachord is perfect and easy of touch. By means 
of these holes this diapason is divided into very distinct 
tetrachords. One of them is, for instance, the key of mi 
minor, the other of fa major. Open these holes, and the 
instrument produces the following : 

O O O O -0- 



=g*= 



This tetrachord is perfect and also simple of touch ; it was 
probably the favorite key of the Peruvians, and has, without 
doubt, produced a melodious sound. 

The second tetrachord is produced by touching only the 
above notes, which give a complete major key : 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 145 





urn 



iHiM 



But in this key the instrument possesses half a note more 
than the violin, which changes the Fa fy into Fa Jft and the 
Ut fyinto Ut#. 

The holes permit an arbitrary variation of the diapason, 
which is modified, according to Mendelssohn, into an instru- 
ment of this description. 

According to Grarcilasso, (Comment. II., Chap. XXYI.) 
" each poem or song had its appropriate tune, and they could 
not put two different songs to one tune, and this was why 
the enamored gallant, making music at night with his flute, 
with the tune which belonged to it, told the lady and all the 
world the joy or sorrow of his soul, the favor or ill-will 
which he possessed, so that it might be said that he spoke by 
the flute." According to the same author, they did not play 
the songs which contained their wars and deeds, but they 
sang them at their great festivals and in their victories and 
triumphs, in memory of their valiant deeds. 



CHAPTER VII. 

RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OP THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS. 

Religion opens a wide career to human hope, and traces 
a distinct route for the will; of the many subjects with 
which the mind is occupied, there is none which so deeply 
interests it, since none bears so close a relationship to the 
most sublime portion of human nature. Thus we may say 
that it is, at the same time, the strongest and most elevated 
of all feelings, and the exponent of the strength of a gener- 
ation or people. " Give me the idea which exists of Grod 
among a nation (says Descartes), and I will give you their 
strength." 

Thus there is no monument which so distinctly discloses 
the disposition, genius, tendencies, and extent of civilization 
in the shipwrecked empire of Peru as its worship, at once 
poetical and pompous, emanating from dogmas and legends, 
conforming to nature, sanctifying agriculture, and forming 
the basis of all policy, and shaping the condition even of the 
theocratical government of the dynasty of the Incas. 

The Peruvian religion, as is generally admitted, was 
founded upon the worship of the Sun, was introduced by the 
Incas, and superseded an anterior worship, by means of one 
of those overturns or religious deluges, more than one 
instance of which is furnished us in the Asiatic annals. Pre- 
vious to this reform and the establishment of the political 

(146) • 



PERUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 147 

institutions described in this work, the ancient inhabitants of 
Peru professed a creed which, however grossly disfigured it 
may have been by puerile superstitions, still attained to the 
conception of a Supreme Being, Creator of all that existed, to 
a system which contains vestiges of the dogmas of the fall 
of man, and of the redemption. Some historians of the 
earlier times of the conquest relate to us what they have suc- 
ceeded in learning on this point, and upon their accounts we 
must rely ; as all traces of the traditions of remoter times, 
preceding the government of the Incas, have been effaced 
from the memory of the nation. 

According to these accounts, the Supreme Being was called 
Con, and had no human form or material body, but was an 
invisible and omnipotent spirit which inhabited the universe. 
By his word alone he created the world, elevated the moun- 
tains, excavated the valleys, filled with water the rivers, 
lakes and seas ; and gave life to man, peopling with the race 
the plains and mountains, and providing them with all 
things necessary to their well-being and happiness. Thus 
overflowing with the gifts of Providence, the human race 
remained for a long time happy, until mankind gave them- 
selves up to vice and crime, disregarding the respect and 
worship due to Con, and entangling themselves more and 
more in sin. 

Under the existence of so much disrespect and corruption, 
Con, becoming enraged against ungrateful man, converted 
the fertile regions into sterile deserts, and depriving man of 
what was necessary for his subsistence, converted the race 
into black cats, and other horrible animals, leaving the earth 
uncultivated and deserted, until Pachacamac, son of Con, 
taking charge of the government of the world, recreated all 
which had been destroyed by his father, and gave new life to 
man, taking special care of all. More grateful than their 



148 PERU. 

predecessors, the new generation raised in honor to Pacha- 
camac a sumptuous temple on the banks of the sea, worship- 
ping, with the greatest idolatry, a deity so beneficent, with- 
out venturing to make a corporeal image, while, as to Con, 
they judged him to be incorporeal, and consequently invisi- 
ble, although they conceived him to be an inhabitant of the 
temple. His worshippers never ventured to invoke the name 
of the Deity without prostrating themselves on the ground, 
kissing the earth, and making manifest demonstrations of 
abasement ; and when they offered sacrifice they entered the 
temple, barefooted and silent, throwing themselves on the 
ground before the sacrificial altar. 

The temple of Pachacamac, the immense ruins of which are 
still visible, near the town of Lurin, to the south of Lima, 
was the only one throughout the whole country which was 
dedicated to the Supreme Being, and for this reason pilgrims 
from distant territories directed their steps to present their 
offerings and worship the Deity. Thus do the historians 
speak of them : " The pilgrims passed with safety even 
through the inimical provinces, against which they had 
declared war without other condition than that they should 
go in small parties unarmed, under which condition they 
were entertained and supported in all parts, according to the 
mutual convenience of all parties." So powerful was the 
feeling of general veneration for the Supreme Being. 

They do not tell us positively whether in that epoch the 
Peruvians worshipped any other Deities, but according to 
vestiges long prior to the introduction of the religion of the 
Incas, it is not probable that their religion was limited to the 
single worship of Con and Pachacamac ; and studying atten- 
tively the worship of the Peruvian Inca dynasty, we find 
many vestiges of a heterogeneous system, which we must 
view as the remains of a primitive religion. Its analogy with 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 149 

the other nations of the old and new continent is a new 
proof which operates in favor of the supposition of a poly- 
theistical system among the ancient Peruvians. 

It cannot be denied, that the above tradition of the crea. 
tion of the world, by the invisible and omnipotent Con, the 
primitive happy state of men, their corruption by sin, the 
destruction of the earth, and its regeneration, bears a distinct 
analogy to the Mosaic chronicle of the earliest epoch of the 
history of the human race, and we readily distinguish in this 
system the primitive monotheistic religion, common to all the 
nations of the world, a simple and exalted worship, which 
was soon, however, corrupted by the material personification 
of the Supreme Being, and the introduction of new Deities. 

Upon the introduction of the new worship, the Inca, its 
founder, incorporated it, with cunning artifice, into the 
prevailing religion. He declared to the nations that the 
Supreme Divinity was the Sun, without whom nothing could 
exist in the world; that the Grods, Con and Pachacamac, were 
sons of the Sun ; that he himself, the revealer of this doc- 
trine, was a brother of these others, and consequently a son 
also of the Sun; that his omnipotent father permitted him to 
incarnate himself, and descend to the earth in order to teach 
men the arts and sciences, and instruct them concerning the 
will of the Supreme Being. 

For a skilful and cunning man it was not difficult to exer- 
cise his intellectual superiority, to his own profit and to the 
general good also, as the docile and submissive diposition 
of the Peruvians induced them easily to adopt a religion 
which, without being detrimental to the established faith, 
enriched it and gave it a character more distinct and better 
adapted to their pleasures and tastes. Thus it is not strange 
that the new doctrine should spread rapidly throughout the 
principal States, and that from thence it should extend and 



150 PERU. 

connect itself with the progress which the imperial dynasty 
was constantly making. 

Upon examining attentively the religious system intro- 
duced by the Incas, we do not find in it one of those pro- 
foundly metaphysical and sublime ideas which are so promi- 
nent among the Asiatic religions, and which the polytheistical 
worship also reveals to us. The base of their religion was 
the private interest of the royal family, whose authority was 
by this means rendered more firm and illimitable than that 
of the most powerful autocrat of the East. 

The Sun was the Supreme Being whom the nation re- 
spected by erecting sumptuous temples wherein they offered 
most exquisite and costly sacrifices ; but the Inca, as a son of 
the god, was considered as a personified deity — the imme- 
diate organ of the Supreme Being, and entitled to the same 
homage with him. A worship like this, whose illusory dog- 
mas could not bear the slightest analysis, was only possible 
among a credulous people, whose faculties, suppressed by 
political institutions and absorbed by war, labor and feasts, 
did not permit them to give the slightest thought to things 
superior to their trivial occupations. Well did the Incas 
know the weakness of their doctrine, and for this reason 
they preserved on one side the ancient worship of Pachaca- 
mac, whilst on the other they inculcated in a most rigorous 
manner the worship of the Sun. 

We will not enter into imaginary rrypotheses relative to 
the result of the fusion of the religion of the Incas with the 
previous prevailing religion ; it being almost impossible to 
distinguish, throughout all its extent, the elements which 
have been preserved, and those which were lost or added to 
this ancient worship, by that which superseded it, and the 
influence of which we cannot define. 

The most important works upon this subject, for those 



PERUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 151 

who desire to penetrate as profoundly as possible into it, are 
the " Natural and Moral History of the Indians," by Father 
Acosta ; the "Chronicle of the Great Kingdom of Peru," 
by Pedro Gieza de Leon; the "Natural History of the West 
Indies," by Don Francisco Lopez de Oomara ; a part of the 
" Commentaries " of Garcilasso de la Vega ; and, above all, 
the "Extirpation of the Indians from Peru, (Lima, Hieroni- 
mo de Contreras, 1621, 4to.), written by the Jesuit Pedro 
Jose de Arriaga. The author, charged by order of Don Fran- 
cisco de Borjay Aragon, Prince of Esquilache, sixteenth Vice- 
roy of Peru, and by the Archbishop Bartolomi Lobo Guerro, 
with the office of visiting, with several other commissioners, 
the provinces of the archbishop, to inform themselves of the 
worship used by the natives, and to destroy their idols, tra- 
versed the assigned territory between February, 1617, and 
July, 1618, and afterward published the narrative of his 
journey, filled with most important accounts. This work, 
which is exceedingly rare in European libraries, gives more 
information concerning the Peruvian mythology than all the 
others of the same nature, containing a summary of the au- 
ricular confessions of more than five thousand persons, par- 
ticipators in the Peruvian idolatry, and also an account of 
the examination of numerous idols,* information which 
has aided us much in treating of the idols in the following 
pages. 

Faith in the immortality of the soul was one of the funda- 
mental ideas among all the Peruvian nations. They believed 
that after death the just went to a beautiful and pleasant 
place, unknown of the living, where they received the 

* The author quoted in the text says that he confessed in eighteen 
months 5,624 persons, discovered and imposed penance on 679 ministers 
of idolatry, removed 603 principal huacas, 3,418 conojoas, 45 mamazaras, 
189 huancas, and 617 mallquis. 



152 PERU. 

leward for their virtue ; whilst the souls of the malicious 
were tormented in a doleful place, filled with sorrow and 
fright ; and that after a certain time, not exactly determined, 
they should return to their bodies, beginning a new terres- 
tial life, continuing the same occupations, and making use of 
the same objects which they had left at the time of their 
death. This belief induced them to preserve the corpses 
with great care, and to bury the dead with a part of their 
clothes, their utensils, and sometimes with their wealth. 

The judge of the human race was, according to the belief 
of the Indians, Pachacamac himself, and in some provinces 
Con ; the Indians not being willing to believe that the Sun 
was to be considered as the supreme judge, notwithstanding 
the efforts made by the Incas to familiarize the Indians with 
this opinion. As in the first age of the world, Con punished 
the human race with a frightful barrenness, so in the second 
Pachacamac vented his wrath in a deluge ; and there was 
among the Peruvians a tradition analogous to the narrative 
of Genesis, as to the construction of an ark, and the preser- 
vation of a small portion of the human family from total 
ruin. There also prevailed the belief that the end of the 
world would come after a frightful famine, that the sun would 
be obscured and the moon fall into our planet, and that 
everything would be left enveloped in thick darkness. 

In opposition to the Supreme Being, and therefore, as the 
Peruvian religion considered, to Pachacamac, who was the 
infinite essence, endowed with ineffable and innumerable 
attributes, the Indians also believed in the existence of 
another being, of evil disposition and very powerful, ani- 
mated with an inextinguishable hatred against the human 
race, and disposed to injure them as much as possible. This 
being, who, by the character attributed to him, reminds one 
of the Ahreman of the Persians, or the Satan of the Jews 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 153 

and Christians, was called Sujpay, and in some places was 
worshipped in temples wherein were sacrificed to him chil- 
dren of tender years ; an abominable worship, which reminds 
one of the horrible offerings to Moloch and Tijohon. But 
Supay was subordinate to Pachacamac, and none could injure 
those who were protected by this beneficent divinity, the in- 
vocation of whose name alone was sufficient to appease all 
malignant spirits. 

The worship of Pachacamac was much more widely ex- 
tended than historians suppose, and we may safely say that 
he was the Deity most popular and most respected by the 
Peruvian people generally ; whilst the religion of the sun 
was that of the court, a worship which, although generally 
recognized by the Indians, never succeeded in eradicating 
their faith in and devotion to the primary divinity. 

In fact, in all the accounts of the life of the Indians there 
may be seen that profound respect which they paid Pachaca- 
mac. Upon the birth of a child, they raised him in their 
arms, offering him to this Deity, and imploring his protection 
for the new-born infant. When a poor Peruvian ascended 
a hill or elevation, he unburdened himself of his load upon 
reaching the summit, made the usual reverences preceding 
the invocation of the name of Pachacamac, and bowing 
himself repeated three times the word " Apachicta" which 
was the abbreviation for Apachicta muchhani ; which means, 
" I adore him who enables me to endure — I give thanks to 
him who has given me strength to endure thus far ;" and at 
the same time he presented to the Apachic or Pachacamac an 
offering, which consisted either of a hair which was drawn 
from the eye-lash, and blown into the air, or of the Coca 
which they chewed, or of a small twig or little straw, or of 
a small stone or a handful of earth. Even at the present 
day the traveller observes, in the roads near the top of the 
7* 



154 PERU. 

Cordilleras, Pachetas, heaps of stones or of earth, the result 
of these offerings : and the Indians even now continue the 
custom of leaving similar tokens in the same places, although 
with a very different signification. 

The primitive worship not quadrating with the new one 
established by the Incas, or uniting itself with difficulty to 
the former, was always a perplexity to the imperial dynasty, 
which attempted to alter its various features, without, how- 
ever, accomplishing its object until later days. The Inca 
Pachacutec having conquered the King Cuyusmancu, lord 
of the valleys of Pachacamac, Pimac, Chancay and Huaman, 
the sumptuous temple of Pachacamac fell into the hands of 
the conqueror. Well did the Peruvian monarch know how 
imprudent it would be to pursue openly the worship of this 
Deity, and for this reason he succeeded, with his customary 
cunning, in indirectly undermining it and in amalgamating 
it with the Sun-worship ; now by corrupting the priests of 
Pachacamac, and now by causing to be constructed, in the 
suburbs, another temple no less magnificent, dedicated to the 
Sud, which was adorned in the most ostentatious manner, 
and which became eventually a monastery of virgins conse- 
crated to that Deity. His successors followed the same policy, 
reminding us of the Sultans of Delhi and Misora — zealous Is- 
lamites, who ordered to be constructed mosques near the 
Brahminical pagodas — and in a few years the worship of 
Pachacamac fell almost into disuse. Finally, the Cushipatas 
or priests constructed a horrible idol of wood with a human 
face, thus personifying, in the most profane manner, the 
divinity who for so many centuries had embodied the sublime 
thought and ideal conception of the Peruvian worship ; and 
they abused the idol to subserve their purposes, causing it to 
pronounce feigned oracles and enriching themselves at the 
cost of the nation's credulity. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 155 

Upon examining the worship prevailing in Peru upon the 
arrival of the Spaniards, it is natural to propose the question 
as to the Incas — Did they, its founders and protectors, so 
distinguished for their wisdom and prudence, believe them- 
selves in those dogmas of the religion which they attempted 
to plant in their vast empire, and to introduce into the pro- 
vinces which they conquered ? Without pretending to solve 
this difficult question, we will merely quote the words of two 
sovereigns, which are very significant. One of them, Tupac- 
Inca- Yapanqui, says (according to the account of Father Bias 
Valera, Garcilasso de la Vega, Eoyal Commentaries, Part L, 
Book VIII., Chap. VIII.) : " Many say that the Sun lives, 
and that he is the maker of all things : consequently that 
which makes anything must assist that which he has made ; 
but many things are made during the absence of the Sun, 
therefore he is not the maker of all things ; and that he does 
not live is proved, because his trips do not tire him. If he 
were a living thing he would grow weary like ourselves, or 
if he were free he would visit other parts of the heavens 
where he has never been. It is like a tied bullock which 
always makes the same circuit, or like the arrow, which goes 
where it is sent and not where it wishes."* The second ex- 
tract is from the learned Inca-Huayna-Capae, and is referred 
to by Father Acosta (Hist, of the New World, Chap. V.) • 
" The Indians relate that on one day of the nine during 
which the principal feast of the Sun, called Raymi, lasted, 
the Inca took the liberty of gazing upon the sun (which was 
prohibited, as it savored of disrespect). He cast his eyes 
upon it as long as it was possible, and remained thus for 
some time, gazing at it. The chief priest, who was one of 

* The learned Humboldt, in his remarkable work entitled Ansichten der 
Natur, II., p. 384, erroneously attributes this saying to the Inca Huayna- 
Capac. 



156 PERU. 

his "ancles, and stood by his side, said to him, ' What are 
you doing, Inca ? Do you not know that it is not lawful to do 
this ? ' 

" The king then cast down his eyes, but after a short time 
took the same liberty and fixed then: again upon the sun. 
The chief priest said, ' Consider, my lord, what you are 
doing ; for besides being prohibited, as we are, from looking 
with freedom upon the sun, as it is deemed disrespectful, see 
the bad example given to your court, and to the whole em- 
pire, here assembled to celebrate the worship and adoration 
due to your father as the supreme and only lord.' Huayna- 
Capac, looking at the priest, said to him, ' I will propose to 
you two questions in reply to what you have said. I am 
your King and universal Lord ; are any of you rash enough 
to order me, for your own pleasure, to leave my throne, and 
thus make the way clear ? ' The priest replied, c Who would 
be mad enough to do thus ? ! The Inca replied, ' And is there 
any noble among my subjects, however rich and powerful 
he be, who would not obey me if I ordered him to go by 
post from here to Chili ? ' The priest replied, l No, Inca, 
there are none who would not obey thee to the death, in all 
that thou commandest.' 

" The King then said, ' Well, then, I tell thee that this 
our father, the sun, must have another lord or master more 
powerful than himself, who commands him each day to make 
the circuit that he makes without stopping ; because, were 
he the supreme lord, he would sometimes leave of! travelling 
and rest for his own pleasure, even though there might be 
no necessity for so doing." 

The Peruvian deities are divided into deities of this world, 
and these again into stellar and terrestrial deities ; into historical 
deities, deities of the nation, or of the people, and finally into 
deities of families or individuals, similar to the lares andpenates 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 157 

of the Eomans. To the stars belonged the Sun, the Moon, 
his wife or coya, Venus, the Pleiades, the Hyades, a star called 
Mamanmircue-Coyllur, and the constellation of the Southern 
Cross. 

The Sun (Inti or ppunchau), as we have already said, was 
the god par excellence, the protecting deity, he who presided 
over the destinies of man — the origin of the royal family. 
To the Sun belonged the magnificent temples which existed 
in all the cities and in almost all the villages of the vast Pe- 
ruvian territory — temples resplendent and ornamented with 
gold and jewels, upon the altars of which they kindled their 
sacrifices. They were only surpassed by that of Cuzco, of 
which we will treat more extensively in another chapter, 
as celebrated for its marvellous construction as for its riches. 
Each year the four principal feasts, corresponding with the 
four astronomical epochs of the year, were held in it. In 
these temples was sacrificed the wealth of the empire, such 
as precious metals, finely woven cloth, cattle, corn, gum, 
fruits, and even children of tender years. Numerous were 
the priests destined for the service of God, and by day, as 
well as by night, a certain number of them were obliged to 
watch in turn in the temples, and to fulfil the prescribed 
offices. 

These chosen priests were held in great esteem among all 
the members of the priestly society ; they also had to master 
most difficult studies, pass through severe examinations, and 
give high proofs of capacity. As they formed a privileged 
caste, the youths who were destined to occupy the sacerdotal 
rank in the temples were educated from their most tender 
years. They were obliged to observe great penances and to 
fast rigorously, especially before the four principal feasts. 
The fast, which sometimes continued a year and more, con- 
sisted in the total privation of food, if it lasted but a few 



158 PERU. 

days, and in the total abstinence from salt and garlic when 
it lasted a longer time : and sometimes so rigorous was it, 
that they did not venture to touch their bodies with their 
hands while it lasted. In some parts of the empire the Gus- 
hipatas, or priests, maintained a perpetual celibacy ; in 
others they were married, but while the fast lasted, they ab- 
stained from all personal contact with their wives. They 
enjoyed much respect throughout the nation, and the chief 
priest (Huillca-Uma), who was an Inca of royal blood, and 
belonged to the sacerdotal society of the sun, possessed the 
government of the other priests of the empire. He resided 
in Cuzco, and extracted auguries from the flight of birds 
and from the entrails of the victims, in the presence of the 
Inca. At the solemn feasts, the king himself in person was 
the high priest, for which purpose he was initiated and con- 
secrated in all the mysteries of religion. 

There were virgins dedicated to the Sun. considered as 
wives of the god ; these lived in cloisters or convents in the 
greatest retirement. The most celebrated was the Acllahuasi, 
in Cuzco, or house of the selected ones — who were made 
such either from their lineage or for their beauty. This con- 
tained more than one thousand virgins. Those who alone 
could aspire to admittance within this sacred college were 
the maidens of royal blood, who, from their most tender 
years, were taken from the bosom of their families to be en- 
closed within the convent, under the superintendence of an- 
cient matrons, to whom was given the name of mamacunas, and 
who had grown gray within these walls. They were obliged 
to pronounce the vow of perpetual virginity and seclusion, 
without the slightest connection with the world, nor even 
with their parents ; and so faithfully was this vow executed, 
and so closely was this seclusion observed, that not even 
the Peruvian monarch himself dared tread within the pre- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 159 

cincts of the monastery, a privilege which was only, by reason 
of their sex, enjoyed by the queen and her daughters. 

Under the direction of competent mistresses, the wives of 
the Sun were taught the sacred duties of their office. Their 
occupations were spinning and weaving the garments of the 
Incas of the finest vicuna wool, woven in brilliant colors 
and enamelled with gold and stones. These sacred virgins 
were also obliged to weave the garments in which the Inca 
sacrificed to the Sun, as also to prepare the chicha and sacred 
bread of corn, called zancus, for the monarch and his court. 

The houses which the Virgins of the Sun occupied were 
richly marbled and adorned with as much taste as the 
palaces of the Incas and the temples of the Sun, thus carry- 
ing out the policy of the Peruvian monarchs, that nothing 
should be wanting to make this institution flourish, as the 
Eoman emperors heaped with honors and privileges the col- 
lege of vestals, in which was concentrated the prosperity of 
the empire, and which in many respects bore a close resem- 
blance to the virgins of the sun. 

In the provinces were similar cloisters, but destined to 
another purpose. There were received maidens of all classes, 
noble and plebeian, provided they were possessed of person- 
al beauty. Designed to be concubines of the monarch, those 
who attained to this honor were chosen and sent to Cuzco, 
leaving the others to remain in perpetual virginity as the 
spouses of the Sun. Those who had the honor of attaining 
to the royal bride-chamber could not return to their monas- 
tic seclusion, but remained in the palace as ladies of the 
queen, until they reached an advanced age, when they were 
permitted to return to their home and country, where, 
although they occupied a lower station, they received honor 
and respect, as the property of the Inca, leading an easy and 
sumptuous life in their retirement. Those who remained in 



160 PERU. 

the cloisters, occupied themselves, as did the virgins of the 
sun, in spinning and weaving, and the cloth which they 
wove was presented by the Inca to the Lords of his court, 
the princes, and other nobles who were thought worthy of 
the honor by the monarch. 

The wife of the Inca who was convicted of adultery was 
subjected to the same penalty as the virgin of the Sun who 
proved false to her vows. If she swore that the Sun him- 
self was the author of her pregnancy, she was allowed to live 
until the "time was accomplished for her delivery, and was 
then buried alive. The fruit of her union with the Deity 
was reserved for the priesthood, or was destined to form a 
part of the sacred society of the virgins of the Sun, according 
to its sex. 

The M.oonjguilla), considered as the sister and wife of the 
Sun, was an object of profound respect, but the worship 
given to it was much more limited than that given to the 
Sun. The Moon was considered, as at Athens and Eome, to 
be the protecting deity of women in childbirth. In the 
province of Huamantanca existed a celebrated temple dedi- 
cated to this Deity. Yery erroneous is the assertion of 
Garcilasso, who pretends that the ancient Peruvians had no 
other god than the Sun, that they did not recognize the Moon 
as a goddess, nor offer sacrifices to it, nor construct temples 
to it ; and that, although they believed that it was the uni- 
versal mother, and under this idea professed great veneration 
for it, still, beyond that, their idolatry did not go. The same 
author contradicts himself, inasmuch as in other parts of his 
Commentaries, he alludes to the several gods worshipped by 
the Incas ; and nothing but the partiality resulting from his 
birth (which is particularly evident when he speaks of the 
worship and religious ceremonies of his ancestors) could 
have induced him to make an assertion so devoid of proofs, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 161 

and in such direct contradiction to the other historians, whose 
accounts unanimously affirm the existence of a polytheistical 
worship in ancient Peru. 

The most beautiful of all the planets, Yenus (Ohhasqui 
Coyllur), was worshipped as a page of the Sun, by which he 
was closely followed, when he rose and when he set. The 
constellation of the Pleiades {Onccoy coyllur) was also an ob- 
ject of devotion on account of the influence attributed to it 
in many diseases : the Hyades, for their fancied action in 
seed-time, and the maman-mircuc-coyllur, because they be- 
lieved that this star, as its name would indicate, influenced 
some men to eat their fathers. 

Among the elemental Deities, we must particularly men- 
tion the air (Huayra), the fire {nina), the lightning and 
thunder (llipiac or illapi), and the rainbow (chuichi) : these 
latter two were considered as servants of the Sun, and were 
consequently respected, especially the llipiac, to whom they 
sacrificed llamas. 

The terrestrial Deities were very numerous ; many of them 
had temples, and the Peruvians sacrificed to all of them, in- 
voking their aid, especially when they found themselves in 
immediate contact with them. To the earth (Mamapacha), 
they offered, in the time of harvest, ground corn and chicha, 
imploring them to grant a good harvest. The hills, moun- 
tains, and snowy ridges received a worship somewhat mys- 
terious, as did also the rocks of uncommon shape, which are 
sometimes observed in the Cordilleras, and appear like men 
converted into stone. The sea (Mamacocha) was piously in- 
voked by those Indians who dwelt between the Sierra and 
the coast, imploring it to grant them good health, since they 
believed — and in this, they were not far from truth — that its 
vapors produced the diseases from which those suffered who 
lived on the plains near the sea. On the banks of rivers 



162 PERU. 

(Mayu) they performed the ceremony called Mayuchalla, 
which consisted in taking a little water in the hollow of the 
hand and drinking it, invoking the God of the river to per- 
mit them to pass it* or to give them fish ; and to render it 
propitious, they threw corn into it.f 

* Even at the present day every Indian living on the Cordilleras per- 
forms this ceremony, before passing a river on foot or on horseback. 

t The principal temples of the idols of the Chibchas were, as we have 
already said, the lakes, where they might make their offerings of pre- 
cious things without fear of others profiting by it, because, although they 
had confidence in their priests, and knew that they buried them care- 
fully in the vessels designed for that purpose, they naturally felt more 
certain of it when they threw them into lakes and deep rivers. The 
lake of Gualavita was the most celebrated of all these sanctuaries, and 
each village had a beaten footpath leading to it, by which they went and 
offered their sacrifices. They crossed two ropes in such a manner as to 
form equal angles, and to the intersection of these went the raft which 
conveyed the chiefs of the lake and the devotees. There they invoked 
the miraculous princess Bachuc and her daughter, who were said to live 
at the bottom in a delightful spot, with all conveniences, from the time 
when, in a hasty moment, she quarrelled with the ancient prince her hus- 
band, and was thrown into this lake, and there her offerings were made. 
Each lake had its tradition, and pilgrimages to these sanctuaries were 
very common among the Chibchas. 

At the time that the prince of Gualavita was an independent chief, he 
made each year a solemn sacrifice, which, by its singularity, contributed 
to give celebrity to this lake, even through the most distant countries, 
and which was the origin of the belief of the Dorado, in search of which 
so many years and so much property were spent. On the appointed 
day, they anointed the body with turpentine, and afterward rubbed it 
with gold-dust. Thus gilded and resplendent, they embarked upon the 
rafts, surrounded by the old men, and in the midst of music and crowds 
of people who covered the declivities which surrounded the lake in the 
form of an amphitheatre. Arrived at the centre, the prince deposited the 
offerings of gold, emeralds, and divers precious objects, and threw him- 
self into the waters to bathe. At this moment the neighboring moun- 
tains resounded with the applause of the people. The religious ceremony 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 163 

The Historical Deities were those which initiated men into 
social life and civil institutions ; and in almost all poly- 
theistical religions, there attaches to each one of these a 
tradition, or legend, relative to its character and actions 
whilst it was in direct relation to man. In the Peruvian re- 
ligion the greater part of these traditions have been lost, or 
at least a knowledge of them has not descended to Europeans, 
doubtless for want of an epic poem in the Quichua language. 
For this reason we can only cite by name some of the his- 
torical deities, with a few observations upon their figures, as 
they are described by ancient travellers, whose zeal induced 
them to burn them or break them into fragments. The 
greater number of these Deities were Huacas, that is, wor- 
shipped by one province, one town, or only one hamlet. A 
few of them had temples, but the Indians sacrificed to all, 
and celebrated in their honor several annual feasts. 

The chief of these Deities, and one intimately connected 
with Peruvian history, was Viracocha, who more than once 
appeared in human form to the Inca of the same name, the 
son of Yahuar-Huacac ; saying that he was the son of the 
Sun, and brother of Manco-Cctpac, and giving an account of 

being over, then commenced dancing, singing, and intoxication. In these 
monotonous and measured songs, they always repeated the ancient his- 
tory of the country, and what they knew of its gods, its heroes, battles, 
and other memorable events, which were thus transmitted from genera- 
tion to generation. At the doors of the dwellings of the princes, who 
always presided at these feasts, as in all public functions, there were sta- 
tioned, as long as they lasted, two naked old Indians, one on each side, 
playing upon the choismia, which is a wind instrument, sad and shrill; and 
covered simply with a fish-net or atarraya, which among the Indians is 
the symbol of death, because they say we should never lose sight of this, 
especially in times of rejoicing and feasting. There were also races and 
contests among the youths, the prince rewarding the most agile and skil- 
ful — (J. Acosta. Historical Compendium, pag. 198, 199.) 



164 PERU. 

important events which were to take place in the future. 
The Inca ordered to be constructed in honor of this appari- 
tion a magnificent temple at Cacha, sixteen leagues from 
Cuzco. 

In the interior of this edifice was a species of chapel, paved 
with black stones, in which was a niche, the interior of 
which contained an immense pedestal, on which reposed the 
Deity, as he had appeared to the Inca. According to the 
description given by Grarcilasso, " he was a man of good 
stature, with a large beard, more than an inch in length, gar- 
ments long and wide, like a tunic or cassock, reaching to 
the feet. He held the image of an unknown animal, having 
lion's claws, and tied by the neck with a chain, one end of 
which was in the hand of the statue. All this was made of 
stone ; and because the workmen not having seen the origi- 
nal, nor a copy of it, knew not how to sculpture it, as they 
told the Inca, he placed himself in the dress and position in 
which he said he had seen it. . . . The statue was similar 
to the images of our blessed Apostles, and more particularly 
resembled that of St. Bartholomew." For two centuries 
previous to the arrival of the Spaniards had the worship of 
Viracocha been professed. 

As sons of the Supreme Divinity, the Incas enjoyed, even 
after death, general adoration. Their obsequies were cele- 
brated with the greatest pomp and solemnity, and to their 
corpses were offered numerous sacrifices ; for which reason 
we should consider them as Historical Gods. The deceased 
monarch was embalmed with so much dexterity and skill 
that he seemed to be living, and in this state he was pre. 
served entire centuries. His intestines, deposited in vases 
of gold,* were preserved in the magnificent temple of 

* A similar custom we also observe among the Zipas of Bogota, ac- 
cording to the account of Acosta. When these monarchs died, the old 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 165 

Tambo, four leagues from Cuzco, where the body was seated 
■upon a species of throne, in a natural position, before the 
figure of the Sun, in the principal temple of the capital. 
Yerv interesting are those accounts given by the early 
chroniclers of those mummies which they obtained a view 
of. Grarcilasso (1. c. Book v., Chap, xxix) says : " In the 
chamber are found five bodies of the Inca sovereigns : three 
of men, and two of women. The first was said by the In- 
dians to be the Inca Viracocha, of great age, whose hair was 
white as snow. The second was said to be the great Tupac- 
Inca-Yupanqui, who was the great-grand-son of Viracocha- 
Inca. The third was Huayna- Capac, son of Tupac- Inca- Yu- 
panqui, and great-great-grand-son of the Inca Viracocha. 
The two latter had not apparently lived as long ; for, although 
they had marks of old age, they were less than those of Vira- 
cocha. One of the women was the queen, Mama-Runtu, 
wife of the Inca Viracocha. The other was the Coya-Mama- 
Ocllo, mother of Huayna- Capac ; and it is probable that the 
Indians placed them near each other, after the death of hus- 
band and wife, as they were united in life. The bodies 
were so entire that they lacked neither hair, eye-brows, nor 
eye-lashes. They were dressed in their usual habiliments, 
such as they wore when living, with ornaments on their 
heads, and without other ensign of royalty. They were 
seated as the Indians usually seat themselves, — their hands 
crossed over their breasts, the right over the left, the eyes 
cast down, as though they gazed upon the ground." 

According to the testimony of others, Gonzalo Pizarro 

men extracted the intestines, and filled the cavities with liquid rosin, 
afterward introducing the corpse into a large trunk made of palm, lined 
with sheets of gold within and without ; and they were carried secretly, 
and buried in a vault already made, from the day on which they began 
to reign, in secret and distant provinces. 



166 PERU. 

disinterred the body of the Inca Viracocha, in Haquijahuana, 
and ordered it to be burned. The Indians gathered together 
the ashes, and, placing them in a small jar of gold, made to 
it splendid offerings. 

The body of Huayna- Capac was moved from Patallacta to 
Totacacha, where was founded the parish of JSan Bias. It 
was so well preserved that it seemed to be in life. The eyes 
were made of very thin gold, and so well-formed that they 
seemed natural, and the whole body was prepared with a 
species of bitumen. There appeared on the head the scar of 
a stone thrown in war, and the long hair was visible, very 
hoary, and perfect. He had died about eighty years previous. 
The Licentiate Polo-Ondegardo, in the vice-royalty of D. 
Andres Hurtado de Mendoza, the second Marquis of Canete, 
brought this mummy, with several others of the Incas, from 
Cuzco to Lima. Garcillasso adds: " The bodies weighed so 
little that any Indian might carry them in his arms, or on 
his shoulders, from house to house of the gentlemen who 
wished to see them. They carried them, covered with white 
cloths, through the streets and squares, surrounded by the 
Indians, worshipping them with tears and groans ; and 
many Spaniards lifted their caps as they passed, because they 
were the bodies of kings, which was so grateful to the In- 
dians that they could not sufficiently express their thanks." 
Finally, the mortal remains of these powerful and wise mon- 
archs were interred in a court of the Hospital of Saint 
Andrew, in Lima. 

Besides the Incas the Peruvians adored also heroes in 
some, of the provinces, and it seems that this worship origin- 
ated before the Incas conquered those territories. In the 
ancient town of Huahualla, for instance, they sacrificed to 
the mummies of Caxaparca, and of his son, Huaratama, both 
dressed in the garb of warriors, with many feathers of divers 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 167 

colors ; but tradition relates to us nothing concerning the 
deeds of these persons, who, it is probable, were distinguished 
commanders of the nation. 

We have already said that the greater number of the his- 
torical gods were Huacas, or gods of towns or provinces, 
of which there were made figures of stone and wood. A 
large number of them were destroyed by the Spanish con- 
querors, who, in their religious zeal and national pride, dis- 
dained to preserve the laws or traditions of the Indians ; and 
thus it is not to be wondered at that, thanks to the strange 
course of Father Arriaga, we have so slight a knowledge of 
their names and forms. 

The most interesting of the Huacas which this ardent reli- 
gioso destroyed was found about two leagues from the town 
of Hilavi, on an elevated summit, where were found the 
sepulchres of Indians, of richly sculptured stone chambers. 
There was here a statue, three times a man's height, and of 
magnificently sculptured stone, with two monstrous figures 
beside ; one of a man who looked toward the west, and the 
other, with the face of a woman, on the same stone at the back 
of the former, who faced the east. On both might be seen 
serpents, which were twined from the feet to the head ; and 
about the soles of the feet there were gathered other reptiles, 
like toads. In front of each one of these idols was a square 
stone, of a span and a half in height, which seemed to serve 
as an altar. In order to break in pieces so valuable a monu- 
ment, the Jesuit Arriaga employed more than thirty persons 
for three days. 

The Huaca-Rimac was also greatly celebrated. It was on 
the banks of a river of the same name, on which is now 
situated the present capital of Peru ; the name of which, Lima, 
was derived from the name of the idol that was there. It had 
a human figure, and was found in a magnificent temple, in 



168 ps^iu. 

which oracular responses were given to all the questions put 
by the priests. Not only throughout the nation of the 
Yuncas, who occupied this valley, but throughout the entire 
surrounding country, was this idol worshipped ; and even 
from distant provinces deputies came with questions and 
offerings.* 

Another oracle existed in the province of Huamanchuco, 
the famous Suaca-GatequiUa, which predicted to Tupac-Inca- 
Yupanqui, who consulted it by means of his priests concern- 
ing the result of the campaign which he was going to under- 
take against a brother of his, who had rebelled, that he 
should die in battle; and this was verified. The son of 
Tupac-Inca, irritated at the death of his father, destroyed the 
temple of the oracle ; but the priests resolved to place the 
idol in safety, and carried it to Cahuana, where they built it 
another temple, and continued its worship. 

In the province of Manta was a sumptuous temple dedi- 
cated to Umina, or the God of Health, which contained an 
idol, with a face half human, made of an emerald, very 
precious, well guarded, and deeply venerated. 

Another famous Huaca, worshipped by several provinces, 
was Sanacmama, which Arriaga found in the territory of 
Ghanca. It was in the form of a large jar, and was found in 
the centre of eight jars of similar figure, surrounded by 
many other jars and pictures, and by two cups of clay, with 

* Tradition relates that the celebrated temple of the idol, Eimac, in the 
valley of Huatica, was contiguous to Limatambo ; and that the destroyed 
town has passed into that of Magddlena. There exists a large number 
of Buacas, of different sizes, some being more than fifty yards in length, 
and about fifteen in height, from Limatambo to Maranga. In one of 
these remained for a long time the Frenchman, Mateo- Salado, who 
passed for a hermit, until he was burnt in 1573 by the horrible tribunal 
of the Inquisition. 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 169 

which, the Indians pledged the Huaca. They found the 
great jar filled with chicha, which age had converted into 
water ; and near it many cuys (a species of small rabbit), 
and other sacrifices. On the day of the Corpus Christi the 
Indians hold a festival, taking the jar from its place, and 
covering it with clothing, similar to that used by the Pallas. 

In the town of Quichumarca they worshipped the Huaca 
Huari, whom the Indians considered as the Deity who lent 
strength when they were about to build houses and culti- 
vate land ; and his two brothers, all of horrible aspect. 

The Huaca Choquechuco was an object of worship in a 
town of the same name, as also the Huaca- Humivillca, and 
his brothers. The first, rudely sculptured in stone, of the 
color of liver, had a human face, and was seated on a stone 
mortar. 

Near the town of Tamo?- they worshipped a large stone, 
which had been split by lightning. They called it the 
Huaca Llipiac, a name derived from the lightning, and to 
it was offered in sacrifice sheep, gold, and silver. The 
Huacas Quenac and Quenac- Huillca, with Indian forms with- 
out arms or feet, and of furious aspect, were also worshipped 
in several towns. In the same town of Tamor existed the 
Huaca-Huayna- Yurac, son of Apu- Yurac, who was venerated 
in the ancient town of Hupa ; both had the form of men 
seated upon small plates of silver. We must also note in the 
town of Chochas the Llaxehuillca, in the form of an Indian 
seated, crestfallen, and one eye larger than the other. The 
race of Sopac worshipped the Huaca Apu-Xillin, and his son 
Huayyia-Xillin, probably celebrated ancestors of this stock ; 
and in the valley of Jauja the Huancas worshipped the cele- 
brated Huocrivilca, to whom they had constructed a sumptu- 
ous temple near a fountain of the same name. The chroni- 
clers also mention the Huacas Huamantucoc in the town of 



170 PERU. 

Quepas, Mullu-Gayan and Cota-Tumac in the ruins of Cocha- 
llipiac, Umy in the seat of Chincas, Yusca in the town of 
Cayna ; as also the Huacas Xampay, Atahuanca, Pariacaca, 
Huanchorhuillca, Hananllautu, Quincanllautu, Caxaparac, 
Sian-Achcay, Chauca, Churaquella, Taucatanca, and many 
others which it would be useless to enumerate : and it is 
probable that all those mentioned by authors constitute 
but a small fraction of the sum total of them, since each 
town had its protecting God, and sometimes several, as they 
had been more or less celebrated, and more or less venerated 
in the surrounding country. They generally worshipped on 
the islands of the coast, Huacas, whom they pretend to have 
been creators of the huanu, [Guano], and at the season of 
corn gathering they went with rafts and barges carrying 
chtcha, mullu, paria and other articles of sacrifice, and asked 
leave to bring away the huanu. 

We must also remark, that several nations worshipped 
different animals : thus the Collas rendered worship to sheep 
entirely white, as in Siam was done to elephants of the same 
color: the Huancas worshipped dogs, the Amis large ser- 
pents (Amaru), and tigers (uturuncd), etc. 

Individual and family Deities or household Gods were 
innumerable ; each house and individual possessed its charac- 
teristic and tutelar divinity. Among the former, those 
deserving of special mention, were the so-called Mallquis, or 
manaos, which were the entire bodies of the ancestors re- 
duced to a mummy or skeleton state, which the descendants 
piously preserved in the Machays or tombs, arranged in such 
a manner that they might easily see them and offer them 
sacrifices ; at the same time, they gave them food and drink, 
for they interred with them vessels and dishes which they 
filled from time to time with food. They also placed at the side 
of the departed, in the sepulchres, arms, utensils, and other 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 171 

spoils which they had used in life ; thus, if the deceased 
were a warrior they interred with him implements of war , 
if he were a workman, they buried with him signs of his 
trade ; if a woman, they buried spindles, shuttles, cotton, 
wool, etc. 

Each family had within its inheritance a large stone, 
placed on its side, in the field, which they worshipped with 
feasts and sacrifices: they called them Huanca, chichi, or 
Chacrayoc, that is, master of the field. Similar stones they 
placed in the canals of irrigation, offering sacrifice to them 
before and after sowing their seed, calling them Compa, or 
Larca-huillana. 

The household Gods, corresponding with the Lares and 
Penates of the Eomans, were of divers forms and material ; 
they were made of gold, silver, copper, wood, stone, clay, 
etc., in imitation of a human figure, an animal, or in some 
capricious and extravagant form. The whole family pro- 
fessed the greatest respect for these Deities, which descended 
from father to son, and of which the eldest brother was forced 
to render an account to the other members of the house. 

Each one might have an indefinite number of these do- 
mestic deities, a circumstance which establishes a marked 
difference between Peru and Mexico, where the number of 
Lares was limited, and varied according to the persons ; thus 
the king might have six, the nobles four, and the plebeian 
only two. 

Under the collective name of Conopa,* or Chanca, the 

* The Quichua word Conopa or Canopa, by which we designate in the 
text private Deities, or Lares of the ancient Peruvians, particularly de- 
serves the attention of learned antiquaries, by its coincidence with an 
Egyptian word which signifies the same object. By the word Canopus 
or Canobus, the Egyptians denominated a beneficent spirit or tutelar 
'"god, representing it under the form of a bird or a human head. 



172 PERU. 

Peruvians designated all the minor deities worshipped by 
single families and individuals, excepting those already men- 
tioned, in fields and canals. They counted several classes 
among them, although they applied the names* above men- 
tioned particularly to individuals. Every small stone or 
piece of wood of singular form was worshipped as a Conopa. 
These private Deities were buried with their owners, and 
generally hung to the neck of the dead. Sometimes they 
are found made of metal, like a human figure, or with an 
allusion to some event in the life of the individual who wor- 
shipped them. 

The most esteemed Conopas were the bezoar stone (Quicu), 
and the small crystals of quartz rock (Quispi, or Llaca). 

The Indians derived these idols from those events which 
had most influenced their course through life, and which 
they thus commemorated; or from such freaks of nature 
as impressed the imagination, and thus conduced to an idol- 
atrous worship. Corn (Zara), for instance, their principal 
food, was the origin of the several species of Zarapconopas. 
They called Zaramama, certain stones cut in the shape of ears 
of corn, and certain vessels of white earth, or clay, with orna- 
ments like wooden sandals or shoes. Another class of Zara- 
mama consisted of a doll made of corn-stalks, clothed with 
anaco and Chilla, [an Indian mantle] and topics of silver such 
as are used by the Indians. The corn-stalks with many ears 
or with double ears, were considered as sacred things, but 
not as Deities ; they were called by the Indians Huantazara 

They also call Canobus the four vessels which are found in the four 
corners of the Egyptian mummies, and of which the first figure is a bird, 
the second a baboon, the third a sparrow-hawk, and the fourth a human 
head. 

Canobus was also the name of an island of the Nile, and of an Egyptian 
city, disgraced by the luxury of its inhabitants, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 173 

or Aryhuazara, because they danced with them the dance 
Arihuay, when the corn was suspended by branches of willow ; 
in the same way did they worship the ears, the grains of 
which were of various colors, (Chuantayzara, Micsazara, or 
Caullazara :) or were arranged in rows, united in the shape 
of a cone {Pirhuazara)* Of the Quinua and Coca, they 
made their Conopas in the form of puppets, as they did of 
maize, and called them Quinuamama and Gocamama. They 
also held in great veneration the knotted roots of the papas 
[a species of pignut], and from them made Conopas (Axo- 
mama). Twin children, if dying at an early age, were pre- 
served in earthen pots, and were worshipped as sacred be- 
ings, supposing that one of them was the son of the thunder. 
They gave the name of Ghuchas or Cutis to the corpses of 
such infants ; and in the same way did they preserve those 
children who were born feet first (Chacpas), when they died 
in early youth. 

Many and various Gonopas are copied from the Llamas, 
Alpacas, Vicunas, and Huanacas: and these idols are made 
of basalt, of black stone, of porphyry, carbonate of lime, 
granite, clay, silver, and even of gold. The first of these 
animals is represented almost invariably without feet, with a 
cavity in the back, wherein they placed grains of corn in 
sacrifice. And among the Conopas, has been found the re- 
presentation of a sheep in silver, so well soldered, that with 
difficulty only can the union of the different parts be per- 
ceived. They also worshipped as Conopas other less useful 
animals, such as deer, monkeys, mountain cats, parrots, 
lizards, fishes, etc., which they made of clay and hollowed out 

* Even at the present day, the grains of different colors, or of sin- 
gular shape, are dedicated to the saints and hung in the niches. 



174 PERU. 

in the form of small vessels, which they inter with the dead, 
for the purpose of pouring into them the Ghicha of sacrifice. 

The following pages contain a chapter of the " Pastoral 
Letter of exhortion and instruction concerning the idolatries 
of the Indians in the archbishopric of Lima, by the illus- 
trious Doctor Don Pedro de Villa Gomez, archbishop of 
Lima, to his visitors of idolatries, his vicars, and curates of 
the doctrines of the Indians (Lima, 1649);" and will serve 
to furnish some idea ot the idolatries which existed among 
the Indians in the seventeenth century, and which are 
even at the present day partly observed, as some of the 
curates have assured us. 

Chapter 58. How to examine a wizard or other Indian 
who comes to show himself, and give information of the 
huacas. 

M The examination will consist of the following questions. 
I. If the search is in a town of the Sierra, we must ask the 
Indian ; if it is Llacuaz, or Huari, and if they call it Huari 
or Llactayoc, then all the natives of that town, and all their 
ancestors, have had no knowledge of having come from 
any place abroad ; for Llacahuaz is the name used by those 
who (although natives of the town, they and their fathers, 
and their ancestors,) did originally come from other coun- 
tries. And thus is preserved among the races this distinction 
in many places, and the Llacuaces, as foreigners, have many 
huacas, and much worship, and venerate their Malquis, which, 
as we have said, are the bodies of their ancestors. And the 
Huaris, who are the founders, have many huacas, and both 
one and the other believe and relate their stories, which 
throw much light upon their idolatries. For these and other 
reasons it is well to go among the different tribes or races, 
and to learn their factions and enmities, and to distinguish 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 175 

thereby between them : for by this means, one will come to 
know the huacas of one from another, and it is well to im- 
prove such an occasion whenever it offers. 

In order to ascertain what stock or race the Indian belongs 
to, we must propose the following questions : — 

II. What is the name of the principal huaca of this nation, 
which all adore ? 

III. Is this huaca some sceptre, or large rock, or small 
stone ? Discover as far as possible all circumstances and 
signs connected with it. 

TV. Has this huaca a son, who may be a stone, and a huaca 
like itself, or has it father, brother or wife ? This question 
must be asked because the principal huacas always have their 
traditions, that they had sons, and that they were men who 
were converted into stones, etc. 

V. Who keeps this huaca f 

VI. What other huacas are worshipped by the nation ? 

VII. What huaca do they invoke for the habitations, and 
for the corn, or for potatoes ; or what huaca do they invoke 
for the increase of gain or of the cuyes [a small animal like 
a rabbit]. 

VIII. Whether they have Cocamama or Zarama.ma? 

IX. What huacas they invoke in their dwellings for the 
increase of them, whom they call Chacrayoc? 

X. What springs or lakes they worship ? 

XI. What they call their little bird, and why they always 
worship it ? 

XII. What they call the Marcayoc or Marcachacra f which 
is, as it were, the patron and advocate of the people, and is 
sometimes of stone and sometimes the body of some of 
their progenitors, who, they suppose, was the first that peo- 
pled that land ; and so we must ask whether it is a stone or 
a body. 



176 PERU. 

XIII. How they call the huaca which they invoke for 
rain? This may sometimes be a stone, and sometimes a 
thunderbolt ; and although they say that it is called Liuiac 
[in Peruvian, a thunderbolt], we must still ask the question, 
if it be a stone. 

XIV. What they call the huaca which they invoke in 
order to prevent the channels for irrigation from being ob- 
structed ? 

XV What huaca they invoke to prevent too much rain, 
and to secure enough ? 

XYI. What huaca they invoke that the corn may grow 
well? and that it may not be destroyed by worms? From 
what lake they draw pitchers of water, to sprinkle their 
dwellings and seek rain? into what lake do they throw 
stones that it may not dry up, and that rain may fall ? 

XVII. To what huaca do they offer twins, which they call 
Chuchu or Curi ; or the child which is born feet first which 
they call Ghacpa f 

XVIII. What huacq, belongs to the prince? which is 
always very celebrated. 

XIX. What huaca they invoke when they go to pay the 
tax on dwellings, mansions, manufactures or mines, that they 
may return well and promptly, and that the Spaniards may 
not ill treat them ? and what ceremonies do they use for all 
these things? 

XX. We must also ask them, in speaking of the Huaca, 
where it is, and how situated ; what its garments, what its 
ornaments, and all other circumstances relating to it, which 
we can, that they may not give one thing for another, and a 
fancied Huaca for one that does exist ; and we must believe 
as truth what has been related many times, and, if possible, 
go at once to where it is. 

XXI. What Malquis they worship ? Whether they are 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 177 

the bodies of their progenitors, and how the father is called ? 
How many sons he had ? "Where they are, in what cave, or 
Machay, and in what condition ? 

XXII. What Conopa or Chanca they have? (Which is 
their household god), and whether it is Micuy- Conopa, or 
Zarapconopa, or Llamaconopa, if it is the Conopa of 
corn, or of grain, and whether all the other Indians possess 
them ? and to this question we must urge an answer, for we 
have proved how much easier it is to discover general 
Huacas than private ones which each one possesses. 

XXIII. In order to examine the wizard, we must ask 
whether he is Villac or Huacahuanrimac, which is he who 
speaks with the Huaca, and offers sacrifices to it ; or whether 
it is Humumaxa, who is the most frequently consulted, or 
Rapiac f or Socyac ? or Pachacuc f or Asuac ? or Yanapac f 
or a wizard? and if he speaks with the Devil, and in what 
shape or form he appears to him ? 

XXIY. We must also ask what feasts they celebrate, at 
what seasons, and with what ceremonies ? because they have 
a variety of them in different places, and particularly 
whether they have confessed to the witch ? In the provinces 
of Caxatambo and Guailas may be asked : Huchaiquita-auca- 
cKcchucanqui? " hast thou confessed thy sins to the witch?" 
and we must ask, with what ceremonies? 

XXV. On what days do they drink, and what dances do 
they dance, and what songs do they sing during the feasts 
of the Huacas, and where they meet to confess on these days 
with their wizards ? Whether they have appointed places 
for this purpose, which they call Cayan f 

XX YI. What dead bodies of Chuchus [twins] or Chacpas 
[born feet first] they have in their houses, or who has any 
such ; and whether any such, either living or dead, have 
been baptized, which they are not accustomed to do ? 



178 PERU. 

XXVII. Who cut the hair of their sons ? And who 
keeps it ? 

XXVIII. Whether any dead bodies have been disinterred 
from the churches ? and whose ? and where have they been 
placed ? 

XXIX. What places are those which are called Apachita 
and Tocanca, and where are they situated ? 

XXX. From what place, and at what season do they wor- 
ship the sun and the thunderbolt? And what witch is the 
Liuac-villac ? Who has the power of invoking him, and who 
is the Malquivillac? 

XXXI. Who worships the Sierra nevada and the sea, 
when they go to the plains, drawing out their eyebrows ? 

XXXII. What wizards take charge of the feasts and fasts, 
cause the Chicha to be made, and teach the youths their 
idolatries and superstitions ? 

XXXIII. Who places parianas [a species of Flamingo] 
for the safety of dwellings ? 

XXXIV. What articles do they offer to the huacas 1 and 
whether they have domestic animals and dwellings? Who 
is the major-domo of the dwellings of the huacas, which are 
called Pachacac f 

XXXV. The wizard must be asked, when he goes to con- 
sult the Huaca, what answers he gives the Indians ? and how 
he is able to feign the speech jof the Huaca ? and if he tells 
you that when he speaks to the Huaca he becomes mad 
(which he will tell you many times), we must ask whether it 
is from the chicha which he drank, or from the effects of the 
Demon $ 

XXXVI. In the past visit, what was done against the 
idolatries? what idols did the Indians cease to make use of? 
and of those which are left, what pieces over and above are 
kept, and where are they now ? 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 179 

XXXVII. "We must inquire, with modesty and prudence, 
if there are any persons which are not baptized, because they 
sometimes conceal persons, to prevent their baptism, and 
especially those which are born in the out stations and in the 
fields ; and the Indian women have also been known to say, 
in order to get rid of their husbands, that they were never 
baptized. Much of this is attributable to malice and 
ignorance. 

XXXVIII. Finally, we must ask for tne estate which the 
huaca has, and whether he has money; whether this is only 
in the power of him who keeps it, or in the same place with 
the huaca ; and whether he has gold or silver, Huamas, Ghacra i 
Hincas, or Tincwyas, or Aquillas, with which they give them 
to drink." 

As to this resume of the religious system of the ancient 
Peruvians, the reader well versed in the study of idolatrous 
religion will note that this deification of exterior objects, 
which infuses ideas of sublimity and power, is very analo- 
gous to the pantheism of oriental India, as it is understood 
by the populace ; without doubt the worship of animals and 
vegetables, and above all their veneration for corpses, recalls 
the religion of the ancient Egyptains, fully described by 
Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and many modern authors. At 
the same time, the idea of motherhood (Mama) which is 
applied to terrestrial bodies, is a profoundly metaphysical 
and elevated idea, professed by some ancient philosophers, 
and especially by Plato, who uses the same word to designate 
ideas or archetypes, that is, the spiritual essence of things. 

We will now pass to the examination of another question, 
which has attracted the attention of the learned ; and it is 
the analogy of certain institutions and religious ceremonies 
of the Peruvians, with the Christian sacraments. The priests 
in the earlier days of the conquest, considered these coinci- 



180 PERU. 

dences as snares laid by the prince of darkness, who for the 
better securing of his victims copied the sacred rites of 
Christianity. Such is the opinion of Acosta, Herrera, and 
Cieca de Leon: the latter assures us that Satan in person 
appeared at the feasts of the Indians, in order to appro- 
priate '„heir worship. Taking a different view, other critics 
h*ve explained these remarkable resemblances to the customs 
of evangelical religion, by considering them as the remains 
of the Christian worship, established primarily in these re- 
gions, and that the corruption has arisen from the influence 
of the neighboring or conquered nations, the emigrations 
of the people, or that unhappy tendency to the grossness of 
idolatry which is a frightful consequence of the fall of man, 
and which has been so strikingly exemplified in the history 
of the chosen people. Those who support this opinion, 
attribute to Sainte Bartholomew and Thomas, the scattering 
in these distant regions the evangelical seed which the 
Spaniards found bearing but imperfect fruit, and which was 
almost choked by the weeds sown by the enemy. Finally, 
the rationalists speak ironically of both opinions, and con- 
sider such likenesses as coincidences partly fortuitous, and 
partly the necessary and natural results of the condition of 
man. Our intention is to describe with accuracy the Peru- 
vian rites, declining to discuss the greater or less value of 
the opinions quoted, being unwilling to lose ourselves in 
conjectures upon the real or imaginary connection of both 
religions. ^ 

Baptism was general among all the Peruvian nations west 
of the Andes, and in some provinces took place two or three 
weeks after the birth. The father of the family imposed the 
name upon the child, with certain ceremonies, which we d» 
not circumstantially know. In the provinces of the South 
and in Cuzco, the child was weaned at the age of two years 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 181 

and then baptized. At this ceremony were assembled all 
the relatives, and one of them, elected god-father, cut with 
a stone knife part of the hair with which the child had been 
born, an example which was followed by the rest of the 
relatives, until the head was completely shorn ; then the name 
was given by the god-father, and each one of the witnesses 
offered it a present. On the day of the birth, the water in 
which the infant was washed was poured into a hole, excavated 
in the earth, in the presence of one of the minor priests, or 
of a wizard who pronounced cabalistic words over the newly- 
born, to conjure away and exorcise all future malign influ- 
ence. Such are the ceremonies of the Peruvian Baptism, 
which, with the exception of imposing the name, has but 
little resemblance to the Christian sacrament. 

Confirmation, which was a species of second baptism, took 
place when the child attained to puberty, that is, when 
the boy first puts on the shirt and blanket, and upon the 
appearance of the catamenia in the girl. This epoch was 
not for the family alone, but for the whole race or lineage. 
And there followed the ceremony, a day of feasting, cele- 
brated with dancing and drunkenness. The chief of the 
race gave to the boy or girl who had reached this age a 
second name, distinct from the first, and the hair and finger- 
nails of the confirmed were cut and sacrificed to their Conopas, 
Huacas, or one of the greater Deities. This ceremony com- 
pleted, the child was considered a man or woman. 

Penance was practised among the Indians with the greatest 
scrupulosity. Before the principal feasts, they confessed 
their sins to the priests (Aucanchic or Ychuris), and they pre- 
viously fasted several days. At the beginning, the priest 
placed a few of the ashes of the burnt sacrifices upon a stone, 
which the penitent blew into the air. He afterward received 
a small stone {Pared), ana 1 went to wash his head in a Tincuna, 



182 PERU. 

or place where two rivulets meet, or some other sacred place, 
reserved for this purpose. Presently, returning to the Priest, 
he said: "Hear me, high-lands, plains, condors, which fry, 
owls, grubs, and all animals and herbs, know that I wish to 
confess my sins." Upon beginning the confession the priest 
placed a small ball of colored clay upon the thorn of a gigan- 
ton (Cactus) ; and when it was done, he transfixed the ball 
with the thorn until it burst and fell to the ground. If it 
divided into three parts, the confession was good ; if into two 
only, it was bad, and the penitent was obliged to recommence. 
He, to prove that nothing had been concealed, was required 
to throw a handful of corn into a vessel, and if the number 
of the grains thrown in was even, the confession had been well 
made ; if uneven, it was thought unavailing. The penance 
imposed by the priest consisted in an abstinence from salt, 
garlic and coition : as also in corporal punishment, such as 
the lash, etc. Sometimes they were forced to put on new 
garments, in order that the sins might be left in the old ones. 

In the distribution of bread and the sacred chicha, made 
for the Inca, to the Lords or Nobles of the court, in the feast 
of Mosoc-nina or " renovation of the sacred fire," the Span- 
iards found much analogy to the sacrament of the Eucharist. 
(See chapters 6th and 8th.) 

There were also certain ceremonies somewhat similar to 
" Extreme Unction" since the priests, physicians, wizards, 
and witches assisted the dying, muttering incantations against 
the power of the devil. 

Holy orders, or the ceremony of the consecration of priests, 
was a matter of the highest importance among the ancient 
Peruvians, and was only conferred upon those youths who 
had given sufficient proof that they were worthy of being 
exalted to the dignity of so high an office. The priesthood 
contained a large number of members who, according to the 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 183 

Deity they served, were found distributed among several 
classes. The greater respect was commanded by those of 
the Sun (Intip-huillac), of which we have spoken in the be- 
ginning of this chapter. In the province of the Yunyas, 
those of Pachacamac were the chief. Each Huaca had its 
priest, who was respected in proportion as the huaca was 
venerated. His occupation was to take care of the Deity, 
watch in his temple, on the spot where his image was 
erected, to speak with him, and repeat his answers to the 
questions of the people; present their offerings, make the 
sacrifices, celebrate their feasts, and teach their worship. 
The same employments occupied the priests of the dead 
(Mallquip huillac), those of the thunder Laipiacpa-huillac), 
and those of the other Deities. 

The Conopas had also priests, but to a certain point, each 
individual was his own priest : and if he wished to ask any- 
thing of these Penates, they were carried to the priest, called 
Macsa or Viha, and through him the service was performed. 

The soothsayers and wizards formed a particular subdivi- 
sion of the priesthood, as they were obliged to give adequate 
proofs of their sufficiency before entering upon the duties of 
the office. Those most esteemed were the Socyac, who pre- 
dicted the future, by means of small heaps of corn ; the 
Paccharicuc (Pacchacuti or Pacchecuc), who divined by means 
of spiders' feet, called Pacchac, who sought for that species 
of the insect which is concealed in walls, or under stones, and 
placing them upon a blanket, persecuted them with a straw, 
until they broke one or two feet, and then they predicted 
by those which were wanting: the Hacaricuc or Cuyricuc, 
who foretold by the blood and intestines of the Guys or 
rabbits; the Pichiuricuc, who observed the flight of birds; 
the Moscoc, who interpreted dreams, sleeping by the head or 



184 PERU. 

clothes of him who consulted them, and receiving in a dream 
the answer. The office of this order of the priesthood, and 
even that of confessor, pertained in common to men and 
women, but the men alone could exercise the office of priest 
to the superior Deities.* 

The priests who spoke with the Huacas were accustomed 
to put themselves into an ecstatic state, by means of a narco- 
tic beverage, called Tonca, made of the fruit of a species of 
thorn apple, Datura sanguinea, or Huacacacha, that is, herb of 
Huaca, and in this state they received inspiration. 

Yery meritorious was it of the Incas, to have established 
the laws of matrimony, and to have instituted certain con- 
ditions, indispensable to the performance of the ceremony. 

In the earlier times of Peru the union of the sexes was 
voluntary, unregulated, and accompanied by barbarous 
usages : many of which even at the present day exist among 
the uncivilized nations of South America. The Incas abol- 

* Even at the present day some of these impostors are known in 
various parts of the Sierra and Don Mariano E. de Rivero, being prefect 
of the department of Junin, the curate of Huariaca, and many of the 
inhabitants related to him many curious and strange cases of witchcraft^ 
producing lameness, sickness, and insanity by placing dolls of cloth pinned 
together with the thorns of the cactus within mattresses, pillows, in holes 
about the house, and in cellars. Of these witches some were burned 
on their own confessions, and by reason of this, as the common people 
believed, the afflicted were cured. The inhabitants of the Yalley of 
Majes were persuaded that the Jcara, as it is called, a species of eruptive 
disease which shows itself in red. white and blue spots on the face, arms, 
and feet of the common people, is produced by a drink composed of corn 
placed in a pot with a large toad, which being afterwards ground and 
made into a beverage is drunk in pledges, by jealous women and such as 
are forsaken by their lovers. This disease is cured in the beginning with 
sudorifics and certain ptisans, which the old female quacks keep a pro- 
found secret. These spotted persons are called Karientos. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 185 

ished these rude customs, and fixed conditions under which 
^matrimony might take place ; which were the following : the 
bridegroom and bride must be of the same town or tribe, 
and of the same class or position ; the former must be some- 
what less than twenty-four years old, the latter eighteen. 
The consent of the parents and chiefs of the tribe was indis- 
pensable ; the bridegroom must provide all that was neces- 
sary for the house, which the whole town must assist him in 
building; the furniture which the bride should bring to her 
husband was supplied by the parents; all the marriages 
must take place on an appointed day, and in the presence of 
the governor of the province. The Inca himself presided 
at the unions of the royal family, as monarch and high 
priest, and taking by the hand the different parties to be 
united, he gave them to each other and pronounced them to 
be man and wife; in the same manner did the curacas 
[princes of conquered provinces] unite the couples belong- 
ing to his class, or of other inferiors in their districts, with- 
out the intervention of the priest. They then celebrated the 
wedding with splendid banquets and balls, more or less 
luxurious, as the means of the parties permitted. 

Polygamy was one of the prerogatives of the royal family 
and nobles, but the sovereign alone could have more than one 
wife and an unlimited number of concubines. Gentlemen 
were permitted to have some, but one proper wife only. 
"With the permission of the governor of the province, or head 
of the tribe, and by means of a legal sentence, a divorce 
might be obtained, provided mutual consent was obtained or 
on account of serious charges ; and it is a singular fact that 
the adultery of the husband was unpunished, if with a spinster, 
but loss of life was the penalty for all unfaithfulness com- 
mitted with a married woman. 

After the death of her husband, the woman might choose 



186 PERU. 

widowhood or be buried alive with her husband. Among 
the Incas and nobles it was the custom to bury the legiti- 
mate wives, the favorite concubines, a considerable number 
more or less of servants, as also jewels, wrought silver, 
llamas, arms, provisions and clothing. Some of the persons 
who were to accompany the deceased monarch to the tomb, 
manifested repugnance at such a sacrifice ; but generally the 
wives and servants offered themselves voluntarily, and there 
are even instances of wives who preferred suicide to prove their 
conjugal devotion, when they were prevented from descending 
to the grave with the body of their consort. The wife or 
servant who preferred life to the act of martyrdom which 
was to attest their fidelity, was an object of general contempt, 
and devoted or doomed to a life worse than death. This 
custom introduced by the Incas, which reminds one of the 
customs of the widows of Malabar, of burning themselves 
in the blaze which consumed the remains of their husbands, 
deserves the special attention of the learned and the archae- 
ologist. 

Garcilasso Be la Vega (Eoyal Comm. I., Book II. Chap. III.) 
relates that the Incas had in Cuzco a cross cut of white and 
red marble (crystallized jasper), three-quarters of a yard in 
length, in a sacred place (Huaca), which was held in great 
veneration ;* and in the ruins of Coati are several crosses 
cut in a wall. It would be erroneous to deduce from these 
crosses any inference as to a connection between the Peru- 
vian religion and the Christian. The cross is a figure so 
simply and easily represented in design and sculpture, that 
it exists as an ornament among almost all barbarous 
nations. A flute of Pan, found in Peru, was adorned with 
twelve Maltese crosses. 

* See also Garcilasso, Comment, Part II., Book I. Chap. XXXII. 



CHAPTEE Yin. 

RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 

In each, month of the year the Peruvians held feasts, but 
the principal ones related to the Sun, and they celebrated 
the four great periods of its annual progress, the solstices 
and the equinoxes (see Chapter YI.) The most solemn of all 
was the feast of Raymi or Intip-Raymi^ celebrated in the 
summer solstice, when the Sun, having arrived at the farthest 
point of his meridional career, returns on his course to the 
north. 

This feast was in token of gratitude and thankfulness for 
the benefits which the nation enjoyed, and for which they 
were indebted to the Deity, the feast of profound adoration 
to the supreme Numen, and, consequently, was solemnized 
with the same piety throughout all the countries governed 
by the sceptre of the Incas. There were assembled at it the 
chiefs and princes of the empire ; and those who, because of 
their indisposition, age, or services, could not attend, sent 
their sons or relations, with the most noble lords of the ter- 
ritory. They all came in their greatest cour! dress, and 
splendid arms, each one with his national garb, rivalling each 
other among themselves by the blazonry of their heraldry 
and richness of their adornments. The multitude was in- 
numerable, as well nobles as plebeians, who indeed assem- 
bled at the capital in such numbers, that there was no room 
in houses to receive the strangers, and the greater part were 



188 PERU. 

obliged to encamp in the public squares and in the streets. 
From the neighboring provinces, many women were also 
sent to dress the food of these multitudes, and chiefly to 
knead a species of cake of boiled corn, called zancu, and eaten 
only at the solemn feasts. The virgins of the Sun prepared 
for the Inca and the nobles of the empire this food with other 
dishes the night before. The feast was preceded by three 
days of rigorous fasting, during which time the only food 
consisted of a little white raw corn, and a certain herb called 
Chucan ; at the same time, no fire was permitted to be 
kindled in any house. 

In order to solemnize still further this feast, the Inca pre- 
sided, accompanied by his court. In the first place, the 
monarch left the palace, followed by the royal family, and 
passed barefoot through the square Haucaypata, to salute the 
rising of the Sun. The retinue which accompanied the 
monarch were clothed in their best garbs, and the nobles, in 
ostentatious rivalry, displayed a profusion of jewels and or- 
naments ; whilst the canopies of brilliant feathers and 
splendid cloths, which the servants carried to protect the 
heads of the Lords, caused the square and streets through 
which they passed to seem, as it were, covered with a magni- 
ficent awning. 

Hardly had the first rays gilded the summits of the neigh- 
boring high-land, when a loud shout of joy burst from the 
multitude, with songs of triumph and clamorous music on 
rude instruL ents, the boisterous noise of which increased in 
proportion as the God, in his rising course, shed his rays on 
the people. The excited multitude raised their arms, kissed 
the air, and inhaled the delightful atmosphere impregnated 
with light. Then the Inca rose, took two aquillas (vases of 
gold), filled with chicha, prepared by the chosen virgins ; 
sacrificed the one in the right hand to the Sun, pouring the 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 189 

liquor into a receptacle, from which ran a sewer cut in the 
rock to the temple of the divinity ; and with that in the left 
hand he pledged his family, pouring out to each one of the 
members a quantity of the sacred liquor in a small vase of 
gold. The Curacas went to the adjoining square (Cusipata), 
and also worshipped the Sun in the East, under the direction 
of a priestly Inca, who distributed among them the same 
beverage. 

Afterward, the monarch, accompanied by the royal family 
and the Curacas, went in procession to the temple, and there 
offered their golden vases to the image of the Sun. ■ Only 
to the sovereign and his family, however, was an entrance 
into the sacred precinct permitted. All the others presented 
by the hands of the priests their rich and numerous sacrifi- 
ces to the Deity. The offerings thus made, they all re- 
turned in the same order to the public square, to assist in the 
sacrifices which the High-priest (and not the Inca) offered 
upon a table or altar richly adorned. The first consisted 
generally of a young llama of a black color, and the priest, 
after opening the body, found in the entrails an omen for the 
future. They arranged the victim with the head to the 
east, caused him to be held by four servants of the priests, 
and then the sacrificer opened with the sacred knife the left 
side, and tore out the heart with the lungs and throat. If 
the auguries were not propitious, they offered another sac- 
rifice of a male llama, and if neither were prosperous, they 
immolated a barren female llama, and if these predictions 
were not favorable, the nation was overpowered with the 
deepest sadness, and each one feared an unlucky future. 

The augural holocaust over, the priests made a general 
sacrifice to the Sun, which consisted of a large quantity of 
llamas and alpacas, which they beheaded, offering their hearts 
to the Sun, and burning the entrails of the victims until they 



190 PERU. 

were reduced to ashes, and the flesh was roasted in the same 
square, and dressed with zancu and other food. They then 
began to drink the chicha, which they had in abundance. 
The king, who assisted, seated upon his golden seat, which 
was placed upon a solid block of the same metal, drank to 
his family, to some of the chiefs renowned for bravery, and 
to the most distinguished curacas or conquered princes. 
The members of the royal family then toasted each other, 
and the curacas did the same among themselves. By de- 
grees the chicha took effect, the joy was augmented, followed 
by dancing, masquerades, music, singing, and general rejoic- 
ing, which lasted eight or nine days. Among the dances, 
the favorite one was, and is, at this day, the cachua, making 
a thousand figures with much velocity, and singing at the 
same time. The music of this dance, and the figures, are 
very similar to those of the Scotch in their national dances. 

Some historians relate that the ceremony of the renewing of 
the sacred fire (Mosoc-nina) took place on the evening of the 
feast of Eaymi ; the priest kindled it by means of a metallic 
mirror, concave and burnished, which concentrating the 
rays of the sun on a quantity of dry cotton cloth, it was soon in 
flames ; a proceeding equally in use in ancient times, and 
which Plutarch describes in the life of Numa. This mirror 
was carried by the priest, attached to a bracelet on the 
left hand (Chipana), and when the Sun was obscured, which 
was a bad omen, they obtained fire by means of friction. 
Other authors pretend, on the contrary, that the day des- 
tined to the renewing of the fire was that of the feast of the 
vernal equinox. 

The second principal feast, called Situa, was solemnized at 
the autumnal equinox, and was preceded by a fast, which 
took place the day of the new moon before the feast. The 
night before they prepared in all the houses zancus, a por- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 191 

tion of winch was mixed with, human blood, taken from 
children of five or six years old, from the root of the nose 
between the eyebrows, with a small sharp-pointed stone. A 
few hours before breakfast all those who had fasted washed 
themselves, and took a little of the potion mixed with blood, 
rubbing with it their whole body, in order to dissipate all 
infirmities. With the same material the head of each house 
rubbed the thresholds, leaving a part stuck there in com- 
memoration. In the royal palace the oldest uncle of the 
king performed this ceremony, and in the temple of the 
Sun the High-priest, and other priests deputed for that pur- 
pose, in the other sacred houses. 

Upon the rising of the Sun the people assembled in the 
designated squares to adore the Deity, invoking it, and en- 
treating it to condescend to expel all evils and infirmities ; 
and afterward they breakfasted, eating the zancu without 
blood. Then at an hour appointed on the morrow, there 
came out of the fortress Sacsahuaman, an Inca, as a messenger 
of the Sun, richly arrayed, his mantle girt to his body, a 
lance with a little banner of feathers in his hand, and ran 
until he reached the middle of the principal square, where 
he was waited for by four Incas similarly clothed. Upon 
reaching them, he touched their lances with his, telling 
them that the Sun commanded that they should expel from 
the city and its environs all ills and infirmities. At the 
same time, the four Incas departed for the four quarters of 
the globe, by the four royal roads which proceeded from 
this square, and ran a quarter of a league, to a spot where 
others were waiting for them, already prepared to continue 
the service ; and in this manner, their places re-occupied by 
fresh substitutes, they traversed the road for six leagues be- 
yond the city, in the four principal directions, the Incas 
keeping their lances in rest, as if to put an end to all the 



192 PERU. 

evils which thej pretended to drive away. Whilst they 
were thus running, the whole population of the city and 
neighboring places came out to the doors of their houses, 
shaking, with loud exclamations and outcries, their clothes, 
and rubbing their bodies with their hands, in token that 
they wished to tear out all the evils and give them to the 
Incas to be destroyed. This ceremony was followed by a 
general rejoicing with music, dancing, and intoxication, 
which lasted through the quarter of the moon. At night, 
after the feast, the Indians sallied out with torches, bound 
around with straw (Pancuncu), and fastened to coarse ropes, 
and ran shaking them through the streets until they were 
out of the city, extinguishing them by throwing them into 
the rivulets, pretending thus to destroy all nocturnal evils. 

The third feast (Cusquic-Raymi) was celebrated at the 
winter solstice, the object of which was to implore the Sun 
to preserve the corn that was planted from the rigor of the 
frost. This festivit}^ was preceded by a day of fast, which 
was solemnized by sacrifices similar to those of the feast 
Raymi, by a black lamb, and a great quantity of llamas, the 
hearts and blood of which were burnt as offerings to the 
Sun, and the roasted flesh distributed to the numerous as- 
sistants who participated in the ceremonies. The feast con- 
cluded with solemn dances, which lasted three days. 

Finally, the fourth principal feast of the sun, solemnized 
at the vernal equinox, was that of arming the knights or 
cavaliers, (Huaracu.) After having passed through most 
rigorous examinations in all the political and military 
sciences, (see the 4th chapter,) the Incas admitted to the 
ceremony those young men in whose honor the feast was 
celebrated. The nation fasted one day, and the candidates 
eight or ten days ; then after the adoration of the Sun in 
the morning, and the public sacrifices as in the other feasts, 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 193 

the Inca sallied out accompanied by the most ancient of the 
royal blood to the principal square, made to the candidates 
a speech concerning their future duties, and this concluded, 
they passed one by one in front of the monarch, who pierced 
their ears with a golden pin. The novitiate kissed the hand 
of the king, and presented himself before another Inca, who 
took from him the Usutas (sandals) of rushes which are 
worn by all the candidates or aspirants during their exami- 
nations, and shod him with woollen sandals, very richly 
bordered, and kissing him on the right shoulder, said to him : 
" The son of the Sun, who has given such proofs of himself, 
deserves to be reverenced." The novitiate then entered an 
ornamented enclosure, where the old Incas put on him the 
loose drawers {Huaracu), as a token that he was a man, and 
adorned his head with chaplets composed of the flowers 
Gantur and Chichuayhua, and with a leaf of the herb Uina- 
huayna. After having received all the badges of an Inca 
and Cavalier, the novitiates were conducted to the principal 
square, where the ceremony was terminated with songs and 
balls, which lasted several days, and were even continued in 
the houses of the parents of the youths. 

Garcillaso de la Yega gives, in his Commentaries, a minute 
description of this feast, from which we have extracted the 
foregoing abridgment. Sometimes it is probable that they 
did not limit themselves to the forms which we have 
given of their rites and ceremonies, and that they differed 
somewhat from that which we have just described ; neverthel- 
ess, the information here communicated seems to be accurate 
enough in its elements to give a correct idea of the spirit 
of the ceremonies. 

Beside these principal feasts in honor of the Sun, there 
were many others which continually followed each other, so 
that in a word, we may say almost half the year was passed 



194 PERU. 

in festivities. We will relate some of the most important 
ones only. The first day of the moon was always celebrated 
with sacrifices, music, dancing, and inebriation. In the 
month of April came the feasts of the harvest and of the 
Misac, (see the sixth chapter) ; in June the military ones, 
preceded by exercises and parades ; in August the Yupay- 
Asitua, or supplemental balls, as a continuation of the feasts 
of the preceding month ; in September was solemnized the 
Coya-raymi, or dance of the Coyas [princesses], marrying on 
a fixed day the princesses of the royal family^ and on the 
following, all the brides of the empire ; and finally, the feast 
of the enumeration of the inhabitants of the state. 

In October took place the feast in commemoration of the 
deceased ; and in November, that of the termination of the 
year and the end of seed-time. A solemn day throughout 
the province of Cuzco, was one, on which the Inca with all 
the Cavaliers of the court went out to the camp and pierced 
the earth, after the manner of the Chinese emperors, with an 
instrument of gold which corresponded with our plough. 
The magnates followed the example of the emperor, and 
this ceremony inaugurated the cultivation of the earth. 

We have already said that throughout the empire, they 
celebrated the feasts of the Huacas one or more times during 
the year, according to the dignity of them ; but these festi- 
vities, indefinite in number, were partial only, and the entire 
nation participated in the four great ones only, which we 
have described, and but slightly in the others spoken o£ 

The offerings which the Indians presented to the Sun and 
other deities, consisted of that which was produced both by 
nature and art. At times, the sacrifices consisted of human 
victims, although Garcilasso de la Yega pretends to say 
several times in his Eoyal Commentaries that not only were 
the Incas opposed to so horrible a holocaust, but that they 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 195 

abolished it, and repressed it with zeal among all the nations 
whom they conquered. In this, as in many other points, 
Garcilasso is found directly opposed to all the historians, 
who accuse of falsehood this descendant of the Incas, and 
charge that it is not through his ignorance of the fact, but 
through a partiality in favcr of the prudence and humanity 
of the Peruvian monarchs, whose blood, although mixed, ran 
through his veins. The authors of the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries who make mention of human sacrifices 
among the ancient inhabitants of Peru, are: — Gomara, (Hist, 
of the Indies, Book IY.) ; Cieca de Leon, (Chronicle, Chap. 
XIX.) ; Acosta, (Natural Hist, of the Indies, Book Y. Chap. 
XYIII.) ; Tamara, (Customs of all Nations, Book III. Pag. 
298) ; Levinus Apollonius, (of the Discovery of Peru, Book 
I. Pag. 37); Balboa, (Hist, of Peru, Chap. VIII.) ; Benzoni, 
(Hist, of the New World, Book III. Chap. XX.) ; Montesinos, 
(Ancient Memorials) in several places ; Beianzos, (quoted by 
Garcia, Hist, of the Indies, Pag. 198) ; Jlerrera, (Hist, of the 
Indies, Dec. Y., Book IY. Chap. IY.), and according to 
Prescott (Conquest of Peru, Book I. Chap. III.), Sarmiento 
(M. S. Eelation, Chap. XXII.) ; Ondegardo (Second Relation, 
M. S.) ; and the Decades of the royal audience. To these 
testimonies we may add that of Jose de Arriaga, (Extirpation 
of the Idolatry of the Indians of Peru, 1621.) Against so 
many proofs, the most of which are worthy of credit, the 
testimony of Garcilasso is of no value, notwithstanding the 
pains he takes to exculpate his ancestors from all suspicion 
on this point. It is true that the Peruvian priests did not 
proceed with the frantic ferocity of the Mexicans; never- 
theless, the quantity of their victims reached a very frightful 
number, and consisted principally of children of tender age, 
which they sacrificed to the Sun, and it was no unusual 



196 PERU. 

thing to sacrifice two hundred at one time. On certain occa- 
sions, they also offered certain virgins to the Sun. When 
the Inca, or some great lord, fell sick, he was accustomed to 
offer one of his sons to the Deity, imploring him to take 
this victim, instead of the sick man. When comets appeared, 
or epidemics prevailed, they were accustomed to offer chil- 
dren to the Sun, to appease his anger. We have already 
seen, that at the death of an Inca or a principal Chief, they 
interred with the deceased his servants and women ; at the 
same time the priests immolated other victims upon the 
altars. It is said that in the exequies of Huayna-Capac, 
more than one thousand men were thus sacrificed. This 
barbarous custom lasted for some time after the conquest. 
Cieca de Leon relates (Chronicle, Chap. LXIL) an act of 
this nature in these terms : " And Alaya, lord of the larger 
part of the valley of Xauxa, died about two years since ; 
and the Indians say that they interred with him a large 
number of wives and servants alive. And if I am not 
deceived, they so told the president Gasea, and it was for- 
bidden to the other lords, giving them to understand that it- 
was a great sin which they committed, and useless as to its 
supposed benefits." In some provinces the offering always 
presented was the first-born ; in others they offered one of 
twin sons to the Sun, or to some other Deity ; and even 
more than fifty years after the conquest, there was immo- 
lated in a temple of the region of Hunayan, one league and 
a half from the City of Catas, eyerj year, a certain number 
of youths and children, pretending that the idols subsisted 
upon human flesh. 

We are not told whether, under the reign of the Incas, it was 
the custom to offer the prisoners of war, as in Mexico ; a 
custom, however, which is general even at the present day 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 197 

among the barbarous nations of the Pampa del Sacramento, 
who eat the flesh of the victims of war, after burning the 
entrails as an offering. 

The most ordinary sacrifices were of llamas, principally 
to the Sun. This deity had numerous flocks of these animals, 
and the pasturing of them was one of the occupations of the 
Indians of Puna. In the general sacrifices, the color of the 
fleece was immaterial, but for the inaugural holocaust, the 
law commanded a black llama without a spot of any other 
color. An accurate calculation demonstrates that in the 
single city of Cuzco, there were beheaded annually some two 
hundred thousand llamas in honor of the Sun. As we have 
already said, the flesh of the holocausts was roasted and dis- 
tributed among the assistants at the feast, with the exception 
of the black sheep, and the blood and intestines of the others, 
which were reserved for the Deity and converted into ashes. 
Prom the wool of these animals the Inca ordered to be 
woven clothes for the soldiers. 

The Alpacas, Vicunas and huanacos were also victims 
offered to the Sun, or to the Huacas. The fat {Huird) of 
all these animals formed one of the most precious objects 
of the offering. In the present province of Jauja, they 
sacrificed dogs {Alljo\ foxes (Aloe), pole-cats (Afiash)] in 
others small rabbits (Cuys), flies {Cuspi), hares, squirrels, 
(Carachupas) , apes, deer, (Llnchos) and stags, (Tarnish or 
Taruco.) Of the ferocious and noxious animals which they 
could not take alive for sacrifices, such as tapirs, (Anta) lions, 
{Puma), tigers, serpents, lizards, etc., they made figures of 
them in gold or silver, which they presented to the Deity j 
and the same proceeding was observed with the llamas by 
those who came from distant territories [where the animal 
did not range] to the feast. 

The birds chiefly destined for sacrifice were the Iriburu 



198 PERU. 

pichu (Vultur papa), the condor, the black Tunqui (Cepha- 
lopterus ornatus), the colored Tunqui (Bupicola-peruana), the 
tornasol (Trogon-heliothrix), the humming bird, long-tailed 
parrots, common parrots, cuckoos, flamingos, (Parra), and 
other birds of brilliant plumage. 

They also offered several species of marine shells 
(Mullu), of the most beautiful colors, the bezoar stone, 
and honey. 

Of the vegetable kingdom, the principal offering was corn, 
under all forms ; in the ear, the grain, raw, cooked, or con- 
verted into the usual drink of the Indians, called Acca or 
Asahua {Chicha). At all the feasts they emptied, as a liba- 
tion to the Deity, a small gold vase filled with chicha ; and 
consumed, after the ceremonies were concluded, a con- 
siderable quantity of this beverage, so that each religious 
function was concluded with a general intoxication, and al- 
ways with violent quarrels. The herb coca was one .of the 
most precious offerings, especially to the Huacas, to whom it 
was offered, after having been chewed in the mouth, or mixed 
with fat and corn ground together under foot. They also 
offered many vegetable productions, such as quinua, pota- 
toes, pineapples, plantains, May-apples, fruits similar to 
dried almonds, and of a strong and aromatic smell : every 
species of drink made of roots, and fruits, flax, cotton, etc. 

The offerings taken from the mineral kingdom were the 
richest, as they consisted of the noble metals and precious 
stones, the relative value of which the Indians knew, not- 
withstanding their being found very rarely among them. 
The gold they presented to the Deities, either in dust or cast 
into the form of small bars, or in thin leaves, or wrought in 
different ways. They used also for sacrifice the dust of 
cinnabar (Paria or Puccullimpi), sulphate of copper (Pinso or 
Anas-llimpi), sulphate of iron (Llacsa or Comer-llimpi), and 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 199 

pulverized pyrites {Carhuanuqui or Carhna-llimpi). Upon 
offering powders or dust they first marked with it the 
Huaoas or Conopas, and afterward blew it into the air. They 
called this ceremony Huatcuna. Among the precious stones 
we must notice the emerald, hyacinth, topaz, opal, chryso- 
prase, jasper, ruby, and obsidian.* Of all these they have 
found specimens in the Peruvian Huacas, and among the 
emeralds some of considerable value. We must also speak 
of a sacrifice very common among them, and which consisted 
of eyelashes, which the Indians plucked out and blew into 
the air. This offering was very general, inasmuch as they 
could present it for themselves, without the intervention of 
the priests, necessary on other occasions. 

Finally, to complete the religious ceremonies, it only re- 
mains for us to examine the manner in which the ancient 
Peruvians buried their dead and embalmed the corpses. In 
the preceding chapter we have said that the deceased kings 
were deposited in the principal part of the temple of the 
Sun, in Cuzco, embalmed, and covered with their gala 
dresses, with a rich sceptre in the right hand. The Coya or 
empress was also embalmed and deposited in that part of 
the temple dedicated to the Moon. The royal exequies 
were very imposing : they arranged the corpse with much 
pomp in the temple before the image of the Sun, sacrificed 
to it for three days the best of what they had, chiefly gold, 
silver, corn, and coca, and during four moons the subjects 
daily wept the death of the sovereign. Each quarter of the 
city went out to the field with flags, arms, garments, and 
other royal insignia, singing hymns which celebrated the 
deeds, wisdom, and greatness of the defunct, a ceremony 
which was repeated at each anniversary of his death ; and 
also at each full and new moon, certain persons repeated, 
* We have only been able to meet with the last named. 



200 PEKU. 

amid tears and sobs, mournful dirges and dithyrambic 
praises relative to the lost monarch. 

The kings of Quito, or Scyris, were buried, according to 
Fray-Marcos de Niza (Conquest of the Province of Quito, 
Eites and Ceremonies of the Indians), all in a very large 
sepulchre, made of stones in a quadrangular and pyramidal 
form, so covered with pebbles and sand that it formed a 
miniature hill. The door looked out to the east, was closed 
with a double wall, and only opened upon the death of one 
of them. We find in them their embalmed corpses, arranged 
in order with their royal insignia, and the treasure which, 
the monarch had commanded should be interred with him. 
Over each one of them was found a cavity or small niche, 
where was found a hollow figure of clay, stone or metal ; 
within were small stones of divers colors and shapes, which 
deDoted his age, the years and months of his reign. 

The manner of burying the vassals was very different, and 
varied in each province. In some parts, principally at the 
South, the cavaliers of royal blood, curacas, and other mag- 
nates, were deposited in large vases of gold and silver, in the 
form of urns, hermetically sealed, which were found arranged 
in meadows, woods, or forests, as Gomara relates (Hist. Gen., 
Chap. 122). We regret that we have not met with a single 
one of these urns, which were found in such abundance by the 
Spaniards, and of which we know nothing, — not even the 
shape. Ciega de Leon (Chronicle, Chap, lxii.) says: "In 
order that the sepulchres should be made magnificent and 
spacious, they adorned them with pavements and vaults, and 
put in with the deceased all his chattels, wives and servants, 
and a large quantity of food, and numerous pitchers of chi- 
cha, or wine, such as they were in the habit of using ; they 
thus give us to understand that they have a knowledge of 
the immortality of the soul, and that in man there is more 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 201 

tiian tlie mortal body." The same author also says, in the 
chapter quoted: " And many of his servants, that he might 
not fail of attendants in another world, made holes in the 
grounds and fields of the master, or lord, now dead, or 
in those places where he most enjoyed and feasted him- 
self, and there they buried themselves, thinking that his soul 
passed through those places, and took them along for his 
future use or service. And some of his women, to give to 
his burial more importance, and to remain in his service, 
would, even before his interment, hang themselves, by their 
own hair, and so kill themselves." 

The nation of the Chinchas, and others, of the provinces 
on the coast, interred their corpses (probably those of the 
common people) just below the surface of the earth, covering 
them with a light coat of sand, without the smallest eleva- 
tion of the ground, indicating the spot in which the deceased 
were laid. These interments, at the present day, are found 
in rows, or spaces, one alongside of the other. On the west- 
ern declivity of the Cordilleras they used sepulchres, in the 
form of ovens, made of adobes ; and in the Sierra they were 
constructed of stones, square or oval, or in the form of obe- 
lisks, as in the Punas of Southern Peru, in the vicinity of 
the river Chucana, and between Pisacoma and Pichu-Pichu. 
These obelisks have been erroneously supposed, by some tra- 
vellers, to be triumphal monuments of the Inca Yupanqui. 

A large number of the tombs was enclosed by flat stones, 
one or two yards in height. The sepulchres built of adobes, 
or stones, always contained the corpses of the principal fami- 
lies. The plebeian families were arranged in rows, or formed 
a semicircle in caves, fissures of rocks, or terraces formed by 
rocks ; as, at the present day, large numbers of them are 
found in the departments of Junin, Ayacucho, and elsewhere. 
Sometimes they were buried in holes, around which the 
9* 



202 PERU. 

Indians heaped stones.* "We have found mummies in the 
fissures of rocks, so narrow, that it seems incredible that 
they should have been able to place in them the corpses, 
when newly dead, and, of course, much more bulky, than 
the dried remains which are left ; even these remains 
can, with difficulty, be extracted from these narrow places. 
Those bodies which were placed under shelter from the 
weather and changes of the atmosphere have been pre- 
served ; but of those subjected to exposure nothing but the 
skeleton remains. 

In whatever way they were buried, the ancient Peruvians 
arranged the corpses in a drawn-up posture, the face turned 
toward the west, with provisions of chicha, corn, coca, depo- 
sited in round earthen pots, and other vases, that they might 
find food to sustain them. They placed next to the corpse small 
sacks full of the ears of two sorts of corn, very rare : one, 
the ear of which is short, dry, and a little curved at the 
point; the other, with the ear long, thin, with large grains, 
almost triangular at the point, very much turned, with the 
grains covering it like the tiles of a roof. The celebrated 
English botanist, Eobert Brown, possesses one of these ears, 
in a state of petrifaction, which was found in a Peruvian ruin. 
This species (called Zea-rostrata, by the celebrated writer on 
maize, Bonafoiis,) as well as the other we have named, seems 
to be a native of Pern ; but at the present day it is but little 
cultivated, and but little is seen among the numerous varieties 
of corn in the department of Cuzco. Grains of the Zea-ros- 
trata, taken from a sepulchre, and, consequently, many cen- 
turies old, have germinated in Europe, like the wheat found 
in Egyptian mummies, which counts a thousand years. 

In the walls of the sepulchres, which are made without 

* Many of these tumuli are similar to those which are found in Asia, 
and in North America. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 203 

doors, are found certain holes and conduits, which lead from 
the surface outside to vases within ; into these they empty the 
chicha on those feast days which they solemnize in honor 
of their mallquis. 

The corpses, as they appear in the sepulchres, are found 
enveloped with much cloth, and as it were bundled up. We 
will describe them as we found them in more than fifty 
mummies which we have uncovered. At first sight we dis- 
tinguished nothing more than what seems a coarse statue, 
seated, in which nothing is visible but a round head, two 
knees, and two feet of large appearance ; a strong net of coarse 
thread, with meshes sufficiently wide, is bound closely over 
a coarse mat of rushes, in which the corpse is wrapped. In 
the sepulchres of higher Peru, are found mummies in mats 
of totora, [a particular species of rush on Lake Titicaca] in 
shape very similar to beehives, with a square aperture at the 
side of the face. Upon removing the mat you discover a 
large roll of cotton, which envelops the whole body from 
end to end, and secures two canes or reeds to the sides, and 
sometimes also a stick across the shoulders: after removing 
this roll is seen a cloth of wool, red or parti-colored, which 
completely envelops the mummy, at the lower part of which 
are one or two cloths of cotton, like sheets, fastened firmly, 
as the cloth is around the corpse ; under these we find some 
small vases, ornaments, the hualqui with the coca, and in the 
greater part of the mummies a conopa of stone, clay, silver or 
gold, hanging from the neck. The "internal covering is a 
cotton cloth, quite fine, probably white originally, but 
tinged with a reddish yellow by time, and sewed like the 
other coverings ; this being removed, the corpse is seen naked, 
only the head enveloped in two or three rolls, the upper one 
of which is of a fine web, and almost always with threads of 
divers colors : the under one is narrower and thicker, some- 



204 PEKTJ. 

times made of rushes only, but ordinarily of a yellowish 
cotton. 

The position of the corpse is squatting ; raising the knees 
to the chin, the arms are crossed over the breast, or support 
ing the head, so that the fists touch the jaws. The hands 
are generally fastened, and in most of the mummies there is 
a coarse rope passed three or four times around the neck, 
and we also see a stick which passes from the ground be- 
tween the legs to the throat, and which serves to support the 
corpse more firmly. In the mouth is always found a small 
disk of copper, silver or gold. The greater part of the corpses 
were sufficiently well preserved, but the flesh was shrivelled, 
and the features disfigured : the hair always perfectly pre- 
served, that of the women artificially braided, but the black 
pigment or coloring matter had lost more or less of its pri- 
mitive color, and had become reddish. 

"We now come to the interesting question, whether the 
ancient Peruvians embalmed their corpses, or whether they 
owe their good preservation to the influence of the climate 
which is so conducive to natural mummification. 

Both opinions have their defenders, who sustain them with 
reasons more or less well founded. There is no doubt that 
the art of embalming was known to the Peruvians, but prob- 
ably only to a certain class of Incas, who, holding it as a 
secret, exercised it upon the corpses of the kings and their 
legitimate wives only. 

If we may rely upon the relations of Garcilasso de la Vega, 
and of Father Acosta, already quoted in the preceding chap- 
ter, this art had reached a degree of perfection which seems to 
have surpassed very much the skill of the Egyptians ; since 
there are not known mummies belonging to any nation, in 
which the fleshly parts remained perfect, the skin soft an 
smooth, and the features of the face unaltered. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 205 

We candidly confess that the statements of the authors 
above named, upon this subject, seem to us inaccurate, or at 
least exaggerated ; and all who know the inevitable changes 
which the smooth parts of the human body do undergo, in 
spite of all preservative means, as soon as vitality ceases, will 
participate in our opinion. 

It is certain that the corpses of the kings were incompar- 
ably better preserved than the others, in consequence of a 
certain means used ; and the assertion that this was a secret 
of the royal family, is founded upon the fact that there have 
been found no other artificial mummies than those of the 
kings and queens. Neither do we know what means the 
masters used to embalm them, nor what substances they used 
to avoid putrefaction and give a certain flexibility to the skin. 
To obtain a knowledge of this, it would be necessary to sub- 
mit one of these mummies to a chemical analysis. 

It is generally believed that the other mummified corpses, 
which are found by millions as well on the coast as on the 
mountains, had been also embalmed ; but it is a serious error, 
they being only natural mummies, as we shall presently prove. 
The late Don Francisco Barreda published in the memoirs 
of natural sciences of Don M. E. de Eivero (Yol. II. page 
106) a dissertation to prove that these corpses were embalmed, 
and describes the procedure which the embalmers used with 
them as follows : 

"The professors of the art performed the operation in 
several ways. In imitation of the Egyptians, they drew out 
the brains through the nostrils, thus explaining the want of 
the small bone which separates the eyes, and the fracture 
made in the suture which connects this with the forehead, thus 
facilitating the passage to the interior of the cranium. They 
sometimes preserved this small bone, entirely withdrawing 



206 PERU. 

the brain, and jet without leaving any mark capable of 
manifesting the corruption which would have been produced, 
if they had extracted the brain in any other way ; thus prov- 
ing that such was their knowledge of anatomy, that they made 
their extractions from this organ in different ways and in 
different places. They drew out the eyes, as being composed 
of very corruptible substances, filling the orbits with cotton 
and other materials ingeniously arranged, which covered the 
deficiency when the eyelids were closed : all was neatly ex- 
ecuted without altering the features of the face, whatever 
aspect it might have worn in life." 

" The tongue, with all its appurtenances, was torn out, 
with the lungs, by a small fissure, made from the anus to 
the pubis. After emptying through it all the intestines, 
they left the lower belly and breast free from the parts which 
might putrefy. The vacuum of both cavities they filled with 
a subtile powder, the color of liver, which exhaled a slight 
turpentine odor the instant that it was taken out, and after- 
ward lost it in a short time, by its contact with the open 
air. It absorbs humidity, and makes a slight effervescence 
' in cold water. We presume, from these circumstances, that 
the compound is made of resin of the molle (tree of Peru), 
lime, and some mineral earth. They anointed the face with 
an oily liquid, of an orange color, covering it afterward with 
cotton; they joined the hands to the jaws, and the knees to 
the breast, fastening the different members with bandages, 
until they assumed the desired position." 

In our opinion, this description is a mere play of fancy of 
Senor Barreda. composed according to the method which the 
Egyptians used to prepare their mummies. In none of those 
preserved in the national museum at Lima have they been 
able to discover either dust, or herbs, or other preservatives, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 207 

as the distinguished director of this institution, D. Mariano 
D. de Kivero, has assured us in his Treatise on Peruvian 
Antiquities, p. 42. 

We have examined hundreds of these corpses, as well in 
the warm regions of the coast, as in the frigid Sierra, but 
never did we succeed in finding a preservative in any. It 
is true that we found in almost all the skulls a brown or 
blackish mass, sometimes finely ground like dust, sometimes 
in small pieces, of different sizes ; but the chemical and 
microscopical analysis which our friend, Don Julio Yogel, 
made of this substance has proved that the dust, as well as 
the pieces, was composed of cerebral fat and globules of 
dried blood, and that it is impossible to discover the slight- 
est vestige of a vegetable substance ; an irrefragable proof 
that the brains have not been extracted, as Barreda pre- 
tends. We can also assert, from our own experience, that 
all the mummies contain the brain and the intestines, and 
that in none of them can we perceive any incision in the 
perineum. 

Among the numerous proofs which militate against an arti- 
ficial mummification, we will quote a few, but those quite con- 
clusive. In the year 1841 we found in a sepulchre of the natives 
the mummy of a pregnant woman, perfectly preserved, 
from which we extracted the foetus, which is now in our 
possession, mummified, and which, according to the opinion 
of one of the most celebrated professors in the art of mid- 
wifery, M. D'Outrepont, had seven months of fcetal age. 

A few years before there was found in Haichay, two 
leagues from Tarma, the mummy of a woman who had died 
in the pangs of childbirth, since only the upper part of the 
child's head had come to light. 

In the mummy of a child of ten or twelve years, which 
was found by Doctor Von Tschudi, in a Huaca of the coast, 



208 PERU. 

and which is now in the Imperial Academy of Petersburgh, 
the ribs of the left side were detached from the breast-bone, 
and thus the concavity of the breast, and in part the conca- 
vity of the abdomen, were open; there may be distinctly 
seen the heart, surrounded with the pericardium, the shriv- 
elled lungs, the diaphragm, the transverse colon, and part 
of the small intestines. 




These and other facts are conclusive, and show the fallacy 
of the hypothesis of Sefior Barreda, and of others, relative 
to an artificial and laborious art of enbalming. 

On the coast, the heated soil and calcined sand dry the 
corpses ; and in the interior, the pure cold air, and the dry 
winds, do the same thing — a phenomenon w\ich, even at the 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 209 

present day, we can observe. Place, for instance, a corpse 
in a cave of the Sierra, or in the sandy ground of the coast, 
under shelter from the voracity of the birds, and, in either 
case, it will be found at the end of months, entire, — not cor- 
rupted, but dried ; and in proof of this assertion we will cite 
the cemetery of Huacho, and other towns of the coast, as 
also the mummified animals, which are sometimes observed 
on the roads, even on those of the Sierra.* 

In those regions in which it frequently rains, it follows natu- 
rally that the mummies must be badly preserved. In truth, 
such is the case ; and most frequently they are seen reduced 
to the form of mere skeletons. But in 'the nitrous parts of 
the mountains these are preserved in a state quite fresh, for 
several generations, notwithstanding the humidity. 

* On the roads of the coast, as from Islay to Arequipa, and from this 
latter to Lima, there are seen a number of these mummies of animals 
which serve also as landmarks, to show the road ; when the wind covers 
it with sand. 



CHAPTER IX. 

STATE OF THE ARTS AMONG THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS 

In studying the Peruvian works of art, from the humble 
vessels of clay moulded by the hands of the rustic potter, and 
from the rudimentary idol, the coarse attempts of the silver- 
smith, to the wonderful monuments of an admirable archi- 
tecture, in the construction of which thousands of human 
beings concurred, this question naturally presents itself, 
viz. : whether the arts had their origin in Peru, and emanated 
from the progressive evolution of its primitive inhabitants ; 
or whether, proceeding from the other hemisphere, they were 
the fruits scattered on a new soil by the great reformer of 
civilization and his successors. Historians differ very ma- 
terially on this point; and whilst some attribute, exclu- 
sively, the degree of artistical splendor to which ancient 
Peru had attained, to the seeds scattered by Manco-Capac, 
and to the beneficent encouragements of the Incas, others 
attribute to the aboriginal inhabitants no small part in the 
conception and execution of the monumental works and me- 
chanical productions which excite, even at the present day, 
the admiration of polished Europe. 

The critical examination of the ancient monuments which 
have escaped in whole or in part the destructive action of 
time, and the mad Vandalism of the conquerors, gives 
us more light than the incorrect and contradictory pages of 

(210) 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 211 

authors, and indicate to us two epochs very different in the 
Peruvian art, at least so far as concerns architecture ; one 
before and the other after the arrival of the first Inca. To 
the first period pertains the palace known under the name 
of ruins of the Gran- Chimu, in the department of Libertad ; 
the ruins of Huanuco el Viejo [old Huanuco] ; those of the 
temple of Pachacamac ; those of the isles of the lake Titicaca ; 
the formidable pyramid, colossus of stone and statues of 
Tiahuanacu on the southern shore of the lake of Chuquito. 
The second epoch comprises the remainder of the depart- 
ment of Cuzco, and of others which we shall speak of in this 
chapter. 

It would be a vain undertaking to indicate the positive 
age of these monuments, as all certain means of investiga- 
tion are wanting : the only result we can obtain is, that they 
are of an epoch anterior to the arrival of the first Inca ; and 
that in Peru, as in Mexico, the people were found in a more 
advanced state in the arts than the greater part of the na- 
tions of Northern Europe. 

With these facts before us, the assertion of Garcilasso, 
that before the light introduced by the first Inca the natives 
of Peru were little better than tame beasts, collected in 
groups, without the slightest aspect of towns, streets, squares, 
etc. ; that some, through fear of war, inhabited steep rocks, 
valleys, natural fissures, caves, or the hollows of trees, etc., is 
very remarkable ; an assertion which the same author contra- 
dicts when he eulogizes the admirable architectural works 
which the Incas met with in their conquests, in regions 
where the new civilization had certainly not penetrated. 

In treating, in this chapter, of the cultivation of the arts 
among the ancient Peruvians, we must limit ourselves to an 
exposition of the state in which they were found upon the 
arrival of the Spaniards, without involving ourselves in in- 



212 PERU. 

vestigations and hypotheses upon their successive steps to 
perfection ; while nevertheless, we indicate the progress in 
each one of the artistic branches. 

The art of working timber or manner of applying this 
material to common or habitual purposes, was very slightly 
known among the Peruvians ; and it is very remarkable that 
they succeeded in working with more facility substances 
much harder, such as all kind of stones ; and that although 
they readily invented tools to overcome their hardness, they 
yet could not succeed in discovering means of overcoming 
the fibrous tenacity of timber. They knew nothing of the 
saw and iron hatchet, indispensable instruments in carpentry, 
and with much toil they wrought out posts and beams, in 
limestone or marble, in place of timber. In their immense 
edifices, the ridge poles with their rafters only were of timber ; 
they were made of the trunks of maguay {Agave Americana) : 
the doors being of skins or linen, and even of precious metals 
soldered or riveted : the furniture was of stone or metal. 
The want of instruments adequate to cutting and smoothing 
the resisting fibres of the timber was the cause of the greater 
part of their idols being of stone ; and the small quantity of 
timber which has come into our possession is distinguished 
by its coarse and clumsy work. A part of the weapons of 
war were made of chonta wood :* Such were the chuqui or 
large lance ; the twpina or pike, the macana or species of 
sword, the calhua or short Turkish sword, the huicopa or 
small dart for throwing, the huactana or heavy club — arms 
all simple, and easy of construction with their instruments of 
stone. It is worthy of note that among the clubs there was 
one, the form of which is completely identical with that 
which is used by the inhabitants of New Zealand and other 
islands of the Pacific. Bon Mariano E. De Eivero possesses 
* The chonta is a very hard species of palm. — [Translator.] 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 213 

one which was probably one of the insignia of the prince of 
Tunga in Columbia; and Dr. Yon Tschudi disinterred, in 
1841, another similar to it, from a sepulchre three leagues 
from Huacho, together with arms of copper, and ponchos or 
outer garments adorned with flamingo plumes. There is no 
doubt that the Peruvians shaped their timber with instru- 
ments of stone. The chonta (Guilielma sjpeciosa and Mar- 
tinezia ciliata) and the Huayacan, the hardest which they knew, 
and which they preferred for their arms and idols, resist the 
tools of copper. 

How superior, in comparison with these insignificant 
- works, will be found the art of refining and casting metals ! 
The Peruvians knew of gold, silver, copper, tin, and quick- 
silver, but iron was completely unknown to them, although 
very abundant in their country. The gold, although it was 
among them the most esteemed metal, they possessed, ac- 
cording to the best calculations, in a quantity greater than 
that of any other. Upon comparing its abundance, in the 
time of the Incas, with the quantity which, in the space of 
three centuries, the Spaniards have been able to extract 
from the mines and rivers, it becomes certain that the In- 
dians had a knowledge of veins of this precious material, 
which the conquerors and their descendants never succeeded 
in discovering ; and we do not believe that it would be a 
hazardous prognostication to predict, that the day will come 
when Peru will withdraw from her bosom the veil which now 
covers more wonderful riches than those which are offered 
at the present day in California. 

In the second half of the sixteenth century, in the short space 
of twenty-five years, the Spaniards exported from Peru to the 
mother country more than four hundred millions of ducats of 
gold and silver, and we may be well assured that nine-tenths 
of this quantity composed the mere booty taken by the conquer- 



214 PEKIT. 

ors ; in this computation we leave out of view the immense 
masses of precious metals, buried by the natives, to hide 
them from the avarice of the foreign invaders ; as also the 
celebrated chain of gold (Huasca) which the Inca Huayna- 
Capac commanded to be made in honor of the birth of his 
first-born son, Inti-Cusi-Huallpa-Huasca, and which they 
say was thrown into the lake of Urcos ;* also the eleven 
thousand llamas loaded with gold-dust in precious vases of 
this metal, with which the unfortunate Atahuallpa wished 
to purchase his life and liberty, and which the conductors 
interred in the Puna (probably on the heights of Mito in 
the valley of Jauja), as soon as they heard of the new 
punishment to which their adored monarch had been 
treacherously condemned.f 

They called gold, " Tears which the sun shed," and they 
extracted it from the mines and washings of the rivers, find- 
ing at times pieces weighing from thirty-five to forty ounces, 
and even more. Their most abundant mines were those of 
Collahuya, which also yielded to the Spaniards a rich har- 
vest. The silver they generally took from mines, not very 
deep (an open cut), abandoning them as soon as the hardness 
of the ore offered a resistance sufficient to withstand their 

* It is said that this chain was of the size of a man's wrist, and had in 
length 350 links, which made 700 feet, and reached around two sides of 
the principal square of Cuzco. — Zarrate, Book I. Chap. XIV. 

t Others infer from the abundant and large skeletons of llamas, that 
this wealth exists on one of the ridges near the pueblo of Junin oi 
Reyes, having there met with some figures and small plates of gold and 
silver which we have seen in the hands of the commandant of said people. 
Many are the relations which are given, as well in Columbia as in Peru, 
regarding buried treasures, and in order that our readers may have some 
notion of them, we will insert at the end of the book that which has 
been communicated to us by persons of good standing, referring to 
documents and descriptions of subjects of which we have knowledge. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 215 

imperfect tools. The Peruvians not only knew native silver, 
but also its chemical combinations, such as the sulphate, 
antimonial silver, etc. ; giving to each one of them a parti- 
cular name ; and they knew how to extract from these com- 
pounds the pure metal, by fusion or in portable stoves, 
mixing with the most refractory, lead, galena, (sSuruchec, 
" that which causes to flow") or sulphur of antimony. The 
ovens to melt the silver, generally used in Peru at the pre- 
sent day, are originally from the Indians, with slight modi' 
fications. 

We have no accounts of the mode of extracting the copper, 
which is seldom found in its native state in Peru ; it is pro- 
bable that the greater part was brought from Chili, since it 
is doubtful whether they melted the minerals of copper 
which abound in some Peruvian provinces. In the analyses 
made by Don Mariano E. de Eivero, of various instruments 
of copper, such as chisels, hatchets, etc., he has found silex in 
the proportion of from five to ten per cent. Whether this 
substance was mixed with it in order to give greater hard- 
ness to their instruments, or was accidentally added at the 
time of extracting the metal from the matrix, we cannot now 
say. If this existed in all the instruments which they made 
use of to work their stones and idols, it is probable that they 
had some knowledge of its properties or power of hardening 
copper ; as carbon is used to form steel. As to the alloy of 
copper with tin which they made use of, we do not know 
whether they understood the combination of these metals ; 
they never, however, employed the latter in a pure state, in 
their works. 

By law the Incas prohibited the extracting of quicksilver, 
not only on account of its fatal influence upon the animal 
economy ; but it was also considered as a useless metal, as 
its value was unknown. The mineral quicksilver of Huanca- 



216 PERU. 

velica* was discovered more than twenty-five years after the 
conquest in 1567, by the Portuguese, Enriquez Garces. It 
was undoubtedly that known by the Incas, since there was 
found in the vicinity of the city deposits of it ; and accord- 
ing to some authors they here obtained the Ychma, which is 
the cinnabar, and the Llamjpi (oxide of iron), which they 
used to paint themselves. 

Another law determined that the Ychma should be dug 
up by only a limited number of Indians, destined for this 
task, and its use was strictly prohibited to the common class. 
All that these operators extracted was delivered up as the 
property of the Incas, and afterward distributed among the 
pallas, or women of royal blood, who used it as an ornament at 
the feasts, painting on themselves a line the width of a straw 
from the external angle of the eyes to the temples. The 
Indians knew very well how to extract mercury from the 
Ychma or cinnabar, and the law which prohibited the gene- 
ral use of this substance forbade entirely the playing with, 
seeking, or even naming it. 

Great was the use which the Peruvians made of the pre- 
cious metals. They used them as offerings to their deities, 
to make idols and sacred vessels, and as tributes to the 
Incas. They also made of them the articles which the kings 
used, the ornaments of their palaces, and the temples of the 
Sun of the first rank. The art of the silversmiths had 
attained to great perfection ; and if similar progress had been 
made in the art of moulding, the works of art of the Peru- 
vians would, perhaps, at this day have rivalled those of the 
most polished nations of antiquity. 

The silversmiths knew how to melt the metal, to cast it 

* For a history of this mine and its products, see the memoir of the 
rich mineral of quicksilver of Huancavelica, by Don Mariano Eduardo 
de Rivero, published in Lima in 1848. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 217 

in moulds, to inlay it, to solder it, and to hammer it. They 
used for the melting of it, as I have already said, small ovens 
provided with tubes of copper through which the air passed. 
The moulds were made of a species of cla}^ mixed with 
gypsum, as has been proved by an analysis of a mould of 
an idol belonging to a nation of natives in the Sierra, which 
was taken to Europe. The moulded metals are chiselled in 
such perfection, that we cannot discover in them the slightest 
inequality resulting from the mould. In some of these 
moulded figures, we discover bits of copper, silver, and pure 
gold so well inlaid that they seem to form a whole. Much 
admiration has been excited also by the skill with which 
they made their hammered works. We do not know the 
method used in this art ; most probably it was very similar 
to that of our silversmiths. There are two classes of these 
works : one consists of figures and animals beaten out first 
into thin plates of gold or silver, and afterward soldered 
together into the proper form ; the second in open vases, on 
the sides of which are figures, somewhat coarse in desigm 
hammered with the greatest skill, in such a manner that you 
cannot recognize the blow of the hammer. The soldering is 
distinguished by its solidity, all other parts breaking fifW,.., 
and by the perfect union of the soldered parts. Some 
authors have pretended that in many of the hollow idols 
there is no soldering, but it is a mistake, for if we examine 
carefully the pieces, we may still discover the points of 
reunion, though almost entirely effaced by the very perfect 
burnishing. 

The art of gilding was unknown to the Peruvians, but 
they supplied the deficiency in a solid manner, by covering 
the copper or timber with very thin leaves of gold or silver, 
which they knew how to fasten closely even to stones. 
They also extracted threads from the precious metals, of 
10 



218 peril 

admirable thinness, using them to imitate the fibres of the 
ears of corn, weaving them also into linen, etc. 

Unfortunately, the first works of the art oi the silversmith 
have not come down to our time, they having been destroyed 
by the covetousness of the invaders, and the hatred of the 
natives toward them. All the manufactures of gold and 
silver which the Spaniards met with were cast in clay, and 
most of them were sent to the peninsula ; and the Indians, 
when they saw the desire which the conquerors had to 
possess similar objects, buried them, destroyed them, or threw 
them into the lakes. Those which have come down to us 
are objects of an inferior class, and incapable of giving one an 
exact idea of the perfection to which the Peruvians attained 
in this species of work, and we can gather the best informa- 
tion about them from the unanimous accounts of the ancient 
Spanish chroniclers who had an opportunity to see them ; 
some of these we will here quote : " They had an artificial 
garden, the soil of which was made of small pieces of fine 
gold, and this was artificially sowed with different kinds of 
maize which were of gold, their stems, leaves, and ears ; and 
they were so firmly planted, that although they had strong 
winds, they were not torn up. Beside all this, they had more 
than twenty sheep of gold with their lambs, and the shepherds 
with their slings and crooks guarding them, made of this 
metal. There was a large quantity of jars, of gold, silver, 
and emeralds ; vases the likeness of earthen pots, and indeed 
all species of vessels, all of fine gold. They had also statu- 
ary and other larger objects painted ; in fact, it was one of 
the richest temples in the world." — (Sarmiento, Eelation MS., 
in Prescott's History of the Conquest of Peru, Book I. Chap. 
III.) Similar gardens were made in all the royal palaces 
and temples of the Sun. Francisco Lopez de Gomara says 
(Hist. Gen. Chap. 121): " All the service of his house (i. e. 



PERUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 219 

the Inca's), both of table and kitchen, was of gold and silver, 
except a part, which was of silver and copper, for the sake of 
strength. He had in his withdrawing-room hollow statues 
of gold, which seemed gigantic; and elsewhere, figures 
of natural size, resembling many animals, also of birds, and 
of such trees and herbs as the earth yielded, and of such 
fishes as were found in the sea and in the waters of the king- 
dom. He had imitations of grass ropes, sacks, baskets, and 
knapsacks, all made of gold and. silver ; heaps of sticks of gold 
which were in the form of billets of wood for burning. In 
fact, there was nothing in the country which was not imitated 
in gold ; and they say that the Incas had also a flower garden 
in an island near Puna, where they went to rest when they 
wanted to enjoy the sea, which possessed all kinds of herbs, 
trees and flowers of gold and silver ; an invention and gran- 
deur until then never seen. Beside this, they had an immense 
quantity of gold and silver to work in Cuzco, which was 
lost by the death of Huascar; where the Indians concealed 
it, seeing that the Spaniards would take it to send into 
Spain." In the palace of Tumebamba, says the Chronicler 
Cieca de Leon, in the XLIY. chapter: " Within the apartments 
were bundles of gold, straw, and on the walls were sculptured 
sheep and lambs of the same metal, and birds, and many other 
things. Beside this, they related that they had an immense 
amount of treasure in vessels and pots, and other things ; and 
many rich blankets embroidered in silver and white glass 
beads." Garcilasso de la Yega (Com. Eoyal, Book VI. 
Chap. II.), speaking of the royal houses, expresses himself in 
these terms : "In all of them were gardens and orchards, 
where the Inca refreshed himself. They planted in them all 
the fine and beautiful trees and odoriferous plants which 
abounded in the kingdom ; after which models they imitated 
in gold and silver, many trees and other smaller bushes most 



220 PERU. 

perfectly, with their leaves, flowers, and fruits ; some seemed 
about to bud, others were half ripened or matured, and 
others entire and perfect in their size. Beside these and 
others, they made counterfeit resemblances of various spe- 
cies of corn most naturally, with their leaves, ear and stem, 
with their roots and flowers ; and the fibres which are found 
in the ear and stem were of gold ; and all the rest of silver, 
soldered together, and the same difference was made in the 
other plants, so that the flower, or whatever other part in- 
clined to yellow, was imitated in gold, and the rest in silver. 
There were also to be seen animals, large and small, cast in 
gold and silver ; such as rabbits, lizards, snakes, butterflies, 
foxes and mountain cats. There were to be seen birds of 
all descriptions, some placed in the trees, as if singing, others 
were flying about and sucking the honey from the flowers. 
There were also deer and fawns, lions and tigers, and all 
the other animals and birds which the country produced, each 
thing in its place, as true to nature as the reality. In many 
houses there were baths with large jars of silver and gold, 
from which water was brought into the baths. And where 
there were natural fountains of warm water, there were also 
baths made of great splendor and richness. Among other 
displays of wealth there were collections of billets of wood, 
imitated in gold and silver, as though they were deposited 
to be expended in the service of the houses." In his first 
chapter the same author says: "The Inca seated himself 
ordinarily on a seat of massive gold which they called Tiana; 
it was a third of a yard in height, without arms or back, and 
without any concavity for the sitter; they placed it upon a 
large square block of gold. The vessels of all the service 
of the house, as well of the table as of the buttery and 
kitchen, small and great, were of gold and silver ; and there 
was a deposit of them made in eacn house, so that when 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 221 

the king travelled, they shouldnot be obliged to carry them 
from one place to another, so that everything necessary, as 
well on the public roads as throughout all the provinces, 
should be provided for the Inca when he arrived there, 
either travelling with his army or visiting his kingdoms. 
There were also to be seen in these royal houses many imi- 
tations of granaries and banks of earth, which the Indians call 
Pirua, made of gold and silver, not to inclose grain, but to 
add to the grandeur and majesty of the house and of its Lord." 
These accounts of Garcilasso are confirmed by his prede- 
cessor, the Controller of Accounts, D. Agustin de Zarrate, 
(Conq. of Peru, Book I. Chap. XI Y.) who says : " They 
held gold in great esteem, because out of it the king and 
his princes had made vases for their service, and of it they 
made jewels for their apparel, and they offered it in the 
temples ; and the king possessed a block, on which he sat, 
of gold of sixteen carats, which was worth in good gold 
more than twenty-five thousand ducats ; this, Don Francisco 
Pizarro selected for his prize at the time of the conquest, 
because, conformably to the capitulation, he was to have 
given to him a jewel or prize which he should select aside 
from the common store. The same Don Francisco de 
Pizarro wrote to the Court from Jauja, the 5th of July, 
1534, that besides the large bars and vessels cf gold, he had 
found four sheep (llamas) and ten statues of women, of the 
natural size, of the finest gold and also of silver, and a 
cistern of gold so curious, that it excited the wonder of all." 
And the anonymous author of the Conquest and Settlement 
of Peru, MS. (see Prescott,) relates as follows, speaking of 
the temple of the Sun : " The model of the Sun contained 
an immense mass of gold, and all the service of the house 
was of silver and gold ; there were twelve receptacles or 
bins of silver, so large that two men, with arms extended, 



222 peru. 

could not embrace them, each one being square ; they were 
higher than a good pike or lance ; in these were placed the 
corn which they gave the Sun." 

These accounts suffice to give us an idea of the number 
of works of gold and silver of the ancient Peruvians, and 
of the singular perfection with which they accomplished 
them. In the histories of Cieca de Leon, Acosta, Zarrate, 
Levinus-Apollonius, Calancha, Garcilasso de la Vega, Gomara 
and Montesinos, etc., etc., etc., may be found further infor- 
mation upon this point. 

Of copper very few manufactured articles are found ; it 
seems that they did not know how to work this metal as 
perfectly as silver and gold ; notwithstanding, the Museum 
of Lima preserves some vases of copper very thin, some 
idols, instruments, and two solid staves a yard long, with 
serpents inlaid, which were recently discovered in the de- 
partment of Puno. One of the most interesting pieces of 
this metal which we have seen, was found in a sepulchre 
between Huaura and Huillcahuaura, and formed, judging 
from appearances, the upper part of a sceptre or staff or 
some badge of royalty. It is six inches in length, and one 
inch in diameter ; an inch and a half from its lower open- 
ing is found in the interior a dividing wall, as far as which 
might be thrust the staff or rod which it surmounted. 

Upon the upper part of this reposes a bird (its mate 
is broken off), which represents, judging from the beak, a 
flamingo, although the neck and feet are too short for a bird 
of this species ; on the right side of the cylinder are three 
pairs of birds descending, and the same on the left, ascend- 
ing. The first pair of these is small, large-headed, with 
straight, large beaks ; the second, much larger, represent in a 
manner which cannot be mistaken, owls ; the third is like 
the first. The lower ones of those on the left side are small, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 223 

the heads large, with a crest ; the following are Yanahuicus 
(Ibis. Ordi. of Bonaparte), with their beaks large and almost 
straight ; the upper ones are large, the beaks in form of a 
hook ; in front they have a high crest and the neck bound 
with a collar sufficiently wide, so that they may be easily 
characterized as male Condors. 

No less admirable was the progress of the Peruvians in the 
art of weaving and dyeing. Without a loom or any other 
machine, but with the most simple manipulation, they knew 
how to fabricate finished cloths, very artificially interwoven 
with designs and ornaments. They wove cotton and wool ; 
of the first, they made cloth of two kinds ; the common white 
cotton and the brownish or color of the Vicuna, which they 
reared principally in the warm valleys of the eastern declivity 
of the Andes. The four species of the family of the 
American camel provided them with wool ; these four were 
two domestic ones, the llama and the alpaca; and the two 
wild ones, the huanaco and the vicuna. For the coarser 
cloth, they used the wool of the llama and of the huanaco ; 
for the finer, that of the alpaca and the vicuna. The com- 
mon class were clothed in the first, the nobles and princes 
with the wool of the alpaca, and the Incas with cloth of the 
wool of the vicuna ; with which they, at times, by way of 
favor and distinction, honored the noble Lords. It was 
the exclusive privilege of the chosen virgins and pallets to 
spin and weave the wool of the vicuna, and there is no 
doubt that they had attained to the greatest perfection in 
this art, and that their works were remarkable for their rare 
fineness and their beautiful designs. " The coverings of the 
bed were blankets, and friezes of wool of vicuna, which is 
so fine and so much prized, that, among other precious 
things from that land, they have been brought for the bed 
of Doa Philip the 2d."— (Garcilasso, Com. Book VI. Chap. I.) 



224 peru. 

They possessed the secret of fixing the dye ;>f all colors, 
flesh-color, yellow, gray, blue, green, black, etc., so firmly 
in the thread, or in the cloth already woven, that they never 
faded during the lapse of ages, even although exposed to 
the air, or buried under ground. Only the cotton ones 
became slightly discolored, whilst the woollen ones pre- 
served their primitive lustre. It is a circumstance worth 
remarking that a chemical analysis made of pieces of cloth 
of all the different dyes, proves that the Indians extracted 
all their colors from the vegetable, and none from the mine- 
ral kindom. In fact, the inhabitants of the Peruvian moun- 
tains now use plants unknown to the Europeans ; producing 
from them bright and lasting colors. 

They were accustomed to ornament their textures by sewing 
upon them their leaves of gold and silver, or small pieces of 
mother of pearl, "and bunches of feathers as a substitute for 
fringe : but they also made fringes, laces and tassels of wool 
and cotton to adorn carpets and tapestries. 

All the fine textures of wool which we have had occasion 
to examine, are as strong as they are beautiful in color and 
design : those of cotton have suffered more from time, and 
those supplied by the Huacas are very frail, and seldom as 
fine as those of the wool of the Yicufia. In the provinces of 
the coast they use more of the cotton, and in those of the 
Sierra, as it is much colder, they use more of the woollen. 

The Peruvians did not know the art of tanning the skins 
with bark. The skins of the llamas, huanacos, etc., they 
tanned or dressed in large vessels or in holes and folded them 
in rich earth, leaving them for some time with stale urine, 
and beating them afterward. The almost exclusive use of 
these tanned skins was reserved for the manufacture of the 
Usutas or Llanquis (sandals) of the people, and to hang up as 
doors. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 225 

In treating next of the works of the ancient potters, we 
shall begin by making some preliminary observations upon 
this branch, which, not having excited by its nature the rapa- 
city of the conquerors, has been better preserved in numerous 
objects, some for curiosity, some for domestic use. 

If we examine the principles of the plastic art among 
different nations, we shall see that although the artists 
always intended to represent a whole figure, yet, wanting in 
dexterity or skill and a correct execution of the exact pro- 
portions, they exaggerated the relative size of the parts. In 
the representation of men and animals, we generally find in 
excess the head or some organ belonging to it ; thus we ob- 
serve in the Egyptian statues the eyes fronting the observer 
and the face in profile ; and in the Peruvian modelling, the 
nose and ears are above their natural size. Among the 
Egyptians, long figures predominate ; among the Peruvians, 
short and bulky ones ; and among them we find a greater 
want of proportions than in those of many other nations 
which we have had occasion to examine. In the most 
ancient specimens of the Peruvians, the head always forms 
the principal part, and presents a marked appearance, indi- 
cating that the artist exhausted upon it all his skill : the body 
forms a deformed mass, and the extremities are appendages 
of the least importance, having sometimes only a tenth part 
of the correct proportions as compared with the head. This 
is found as well in human figures as in animals. 

It is a general observation that the most ancient monu- 
ments represent Deities; and beginning with a primitive 
monotheistic religion (in which all the nations of the world 
participated), it may be easily proved that the plastic art ori- 
ginated at the time when, the nations leaving their funda- 
mental religion, became converted to polytheism. Among 
the Peruvians we discover in the Huacas and Conopas the 
10* 



226 peku. 

beginnings of the art, and in them and the vessels destined 
for the sacrifice of the Deities, we may easily trace its pro- 



In order to pronounce a just opinion upon this point, it is 
necessary to have examined a very large number of the 
works of art, and to have followed in this examination fixed 
rules, generally adopted by all critics, not allowing one's self to 
be carried away by secondary circumstances ; among these 
the principal ones are the skill of the workmanship and the 
state of cultivation of the province where it is found. 

A critical observation attests that the works of art of the 
province which was governed by the chief Chimu-Ccunchu, 
and those found in the imperial city of Cuzco and its vicinity, 
are much more perfect and correct than those which are seen 
in the Sierra and on the coast of Central Peru. 

All the moulded works of the ancient Peruvians have a 
peculiar character which distinguishes them from those of 
the other American nations ; a character which, by those 
versed in antiquities, will be recognized at first sight. Some 
of them bear a certain resemblance to the forms presented by 
the old continent ; especially the most simple : such is a seated 
figure which has an Egyptian type ; a vase which may pass 
for Etruscan, and a blackish vessel that has been found, seems 
to be identical with those of the Celtic-Grermans ; so perfect, 
indeed, is the resemblance that if mixed with the known 
remains of those countries, the archaeologist would find no 
difference between them : but these works, so simple, and so 
easy to manufacture, cannot serve as a criterion to denote 
the special character of the works of art of any nation. 

All the skill of the Peruvian potters was laid out upon the 
manufacture of the Huacas, Conopas and sacred vessels which 
they placed with the corpses in the sepulchres. The kitchen 
furniture and other vessels for domestic use are very simple, 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 227 

and without art. The material which they made use of was 
colored clay and blackish earth, which they prepared so 
well, that it completely resisted fire, and did not absorb 
liquids. It seems that they did not burn the vessels, since 
the substance of these differed very materially from burnt 
clay, and judging from appearances, they dried it in the sun, 
after having prepared and mixed it in a manner of which we 
are ignorant. At this day there exist in many houses, 
pitchers, large jars and earthen pots of this material, and they 
are generally preferred for their solidity to those which are 
manufactured by our own potters, a proof of their superiority. 
The greater part of the sacred vessels, buried with the 
mallquis and destined to receive the chicha of sacrifice on 
feast days, have an enlarged neck, placed ordinarily near 
the handle, with a hole to pour out the liquid, and an 
opposite opening, for the air to escape when the vessel is 
filled. Many are double, and it seems that they made them 
thus from preference ; others are quadruple, or sextuple, or 
even octuple, that is, the principal vessel is surrounded with 
regular appendages, which communicate among themselves, 
and with the principal vessel. The double ones were made 
in such perfection, that when they were filled with a liquid, 
the air escaping through the opening left for that purpose, 
produced sounds at times very musical : these sounds some- 
times imitated the voice of the animal which was represented 
by the principal part of the vessel, as in a beautiful specimen 
we have seen, which represents a cat, and which, upon receiv- 
ing water through the upper opening, produces a sound 
similar to the mewing of that animal. We have in our pos- 
session a vessel of black clay, which perfectly imitates the 
whistle of the thrush, the form of which is seen on the handle. 
We also preserve two circular vases, which, being filled with 
water, through a hole in the bottom, on being turned over, lose 



228 ?eru. 

not a single drop, the water coming out when it is wished, by 
simply inclining the upper part of the vase : which proves that 
the Peruvian artisans had perhaps some knowledge of atmo- 
spheric pressure. 

On many of the sacred vessels there are designs and paint- 
ings, which, however, give an idea of the progress of the art 
of designing among the Peruvians. The architectural designs 
with straight lines are the only parts correct and even beau- 
tiful in appearance ; but all the designs with curved lines, 
such as the representation of men and animals, are of little 
value. There is one worthy of notice which is seen very 
often, either painted on vessels of clay, or engraved on the 
arms, or worked in raised work in gold or silver, and repre- 
sents a man with the arms open holding in his hands staves 
similar to lances (Chuqui), and the head covered with a 
broad cap. There is no doubt that these figures represent 
Deities (Huacas) ; others have long garments, and on the 
head a species of mitre, showing themselves also to be 
Huacas, as may be inferred from what Grarcilasso relates 
(Hist. Chap. 121), saying " that the Indians, when they saw 
the bishop, Don F. Geronimo Loayza, asked if he were the 
Huaca of the Christians." 

In some ancient edifices we recognize even now the re- 
mains of architectural paintings ; and according to all appear- 
ances, the Peruvians know not how to paint the walls of 
their palaces in any other manner, leaving the art of design 
among themselves always in its first infancy. Neither did 
they attain to sculpturing light figures, or groups in relievo ? 
in such perfection as the Mexicans, who distinguished them- 
selves extraordinarily in this work. 

The ancient historians leave us in obscurity respecting 
Peruvian paintings ; a certain proof that they were not re- 
markable. Garcilasso de la Yega only (Eoyal Com. Book 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 229 

Y., Chap. XXIII.) speaks of the famous painting of the two 
condors, which the Inca Viracocha commanded to be made 
on a very high rock, on the spot where his father passed, 
when he came from Cuzco, on his return from the Chancas. 
Says this author, " These two birds he ordered to be painted, 
the one with closed wings, and the head lowered, as the 
birds place themselves, when they wish to hide from wild 
beasts, with the face toward Collasuyu, and the back toward 
Cuzco. The other he ordered to be painted in a contrary 
way, with the face turned toward the. city, and ferocious, 
with wings extended, as if swooping to seize some prize. 
The Indians said that the one Condor represented his father, 
who had flown from Cuzco, and had gone to hide himself in 
Collao ; and the other represented the Inca Viracocha, who 
had come back flying to defend the city and the whole 
empire. This painting existed in good order in the year 
1580, and in the year 95, I asked a Creole priest who came 
from Peru to Spain if he had seen it, and how it appeared ? 
He said it was very much obliterated, that scarcely anything 
was to be seen of it ; because time with its streams, and a 
carelessness as to its perpetuation, as well as that of other 
monnments similar to it, had ruined it." 

The Peruvian Indians have attained in this day to some 
skill in this art, principally those of Cuzco and Quito, where 
they are accustomed to paint in oil the portraits of the Incas 
and images of the saints. 

It now only remains for us to speak of the art in which 
the ancient Peruvians excelled, that is, architecture, and its 
accompaniment, the art of hewing stone. In contemplating 
the stones artificially cut which we find in the ancient palaces, 
or in the form of statues, cups, vases, and rings in the sepul- 
chres, they will suggest ideas of the most profound wonder 
to the thoughtful man who seeks to explain the manner in 



230 PEEU. 

which the ancients attained to making works of such rare 
perfection without instruments of iron and steel. For three 
centuries past, wise men of all nations have attempted the 
solution of this problem, without having been able, up to the 
present day, to arrive at any positive knowledge regarding 
this singular manipulation. It is certain that the tools 
already spoken of, made of a mixture of copper and tin, or 
of copper and flint, were not sufficient to work upon the 
hardest minerals. Trials made in our day with chisels of 
these materials, found in the Peruvian Huacas, have proved 
that such tools have much less hardness than those of steel, 
and that, in using them upon hard stones, such as marble or 
granite, they soon become blunted, and useless. Neverthe- 
less, it seems that they made some use at least of such instru- 
ments, and that they knew how to sharpen them easily. In 
our opinion, they used them only to break the stones and 
give them the first rough form, but they used other means 
to plane and polish them; and according to appearances 
they did it by means of a toilsome and slow manipulation, 
rubbing them, now with pieces of other stones, now with 
powder of the same, and now, to put the last polish upon them, 
with herbs which contain flint, similar to the " horse-tail," or 
" shave-grass" of Spain. The ancient proverb gutta cavat 
lapidem* may here be justly applied, and the objection that 
it is too laborious, has its refutation in the quiet and patient 
disposition of the Indians, who, accustomed for generations to a 
daily repetition of their occupations, continued throughout en- 
tire years, with the greatest indolence, the most monotonous 
labor ; moreover, this proceeding is the most simple and natural. 
After having considered with the utmost scrupulousness all 
the circumstances, we cannot explain in any other way the 
raised work on rings of emeralds, on jasper, granite, and 
* " Constant dropping wears away the stone." 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



231 



basalt, the cups, vases, idols of marble, porphyry, granite, 
and other of the hardest minerals, and in general, the finest 
works of stone among the ancient Peruvians. 

For architectural works they ordinarily used square stones 
and also polygons, and sometimes of spherical shape, such 
as are found among the interesting ruins of the palace of 
Limatambo. The exactitude with which they formed them 
was such that, using them in the construction of their edi- 
fices, the fronts and angles were so closely cemented that 
there was but the smallest possible space existing between 
them. The size of these stones is very different, ordinarily 
from one to two yards in height, and the same in length ; 
but we have measured some which were twelve yards in 
length, and eight in height. 

In order to give an idea of the size of the stones, we insert 
here the design of a part of the fortification at the entrance 
to Ollantaytambo on the side of Cuzco. 



*r^ 


j^j^^ 


W IM 1 ' t 




^ir___/^ ■ 


■:■■■ 'MH/ii 




(Z-^^r ib 




="•""=- 


= ~ — / * ~ / ~* ~ "" " '■ 


: u hi 




232 PERU. 

Father Acosta (Book VI. Chap. XIY.) says : " In Tiagua- 
naco, I measured a stone of thirty-eight feet in length, and 
eighteen in width, and its thickness was six feet ; and in the 
wall of the fortress of Cuzco, which is built without plum- 
mets, there are many stones of much greater size." The 
stone, causing so much labor, of which Garcilasso speaks, 
(Book VII. Chap. XXIX.,) surpassed all, but was not 
placed in the position destined for it in the fortress of Cuzco, 
In its transportation it overcame, according to this author, 
the strength of the men who were supporting it, and rolling 
over, killed three or four hundred Indians ; this we believe 
to be an exaggeration, knowing as we do the timidity of 
these people and the caution which they use in their labors. 

Here arises the question : How did they transport these 
heavy masses to their appointed places, and how did they 
raise them to the necessary height, being deficient in all that 
mechanical knowledge which in our days much facilitates 
those operations ? The answer is found in the social institu- 
tions, already mentioned, among the ancient Peruvians. For 
the construction of private houses all the people assembled, 
and for the public buildings, all the able inhabitants from one 
or more provinces : thus they supplied by the number of 
people and disposable forces the want of auxiliary means. 

A serious error made by the greater part of ancient and 
modem historians, is in the statement that the Peruvians did 
not use any cement or mortar in putting together stones for 
their edifices; for they had cements of different kinds. For the 
palaces, temples, baths and all the other edifices constructed 
of polished stones, they used instead of mortar either a clay 
very soluble and remarkably adherent, called Lancac-Allpa, 
or a mixture of lime, Tscu (which they burnt and slaked, as 
is done at the present day,) with a species of bitumen, the 
use of which has been lost, (See Gomara, Hist. Gen. Chap. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 233 

194); and for the buildings of less importance, constructed 
of rough stone, they employed a mortar made of lime 
(Pachachi), with coarse sand ; as we see even now in many of 
the old towns among them. 

Designs of all classes of Peruvian architecture, from the 
imposing palace to the rustic hut, have resisted the destruc- 
tive tooth of time, and permitted us, aided by the relations 
of the contemporaneous authors of the conquest, to give a 
correct general idea of them. 

The private houses were very simple, and according to the 
custom of the province, were either of stones, or of bricks, 
or of cane, as on the coast. The bricks, or more properly 
adobes, unbaked bricks (Ticacuna in the Quichua language), 
were made of clay mixed with the grass Ichu, cut somewhat 
fine like chaff, intimately mixed and pressed. They were 
made in a rectangular form, as large as the thickness of the 
wall which they were going to construct with them ; from 
six to eight inches in height, and from fifteen to twenty in 
width : after being formed they were exposed for a year or 
more to the air and the sun, until they became as hard as 
our burnt bricks. Even at the present day the Indians 
make their adobes in the same way, using sometimes instead 
of Ichu the straw of cut wheat, or even dung. 

The houses were small and of few rooms, not communi- 
cating with each other ; each one had a door opening into 
the court or street ; the door also answered the purpose of a 
window. In the more important buildings there were inter 
mediate doors and windows in great numbers, (notwithstand 
ing some authors erroneously represent the contrary) as we 
may still see in many ruins of palaces and temples. In the 
large cities, the houses touched each other and were disposed 
in rows, front joining front, thus forming straight streets. 
The general plan of all the large towns was similar to that 



234 peru. 

of the greater part of those in the South of Europe and of 
those now in Peru : a square with the principal edifices forms 
the centre, from which project, in the direction of the four 
quarters of the world, the principal streets. In many towns 
of the Sierra, the dwellings were scattered and arranged 
without order, as the face of the ground permitted. 

We have observed among the ruins of ancient towns in 
the departments ofJunin and Ayacucho houses like towers and 
of a singular construction, and of considerable size. Each 
dwelling is square, and has a width within of six feet and 
an altitude of from sixteen to eighteen. The walls are a 
foot and a half in thickness, and in the eastern one, or in 
that of the south, is found the door, a foot and a half in 
height and two feet in width. After having passed into the 
lower entrance, and with some difficulty through this open- 
ing, you arrive at a species of sitting-room, five and a half 
or six feet in height, and as much in width. The walls were 
naked, but in the thickness of the walls, there are small 
closets which served to keep provisions, and you sometimes 
see in them ears of corn, coca, pots, and vessels. The roof 
of these apartments is made of large flat stones, leaving in 
the middle an aperture of two feet in diameter ; mounting, 
not without difficulty, through this opening, you arrive at 
another story similar to the first, with some windows like 
embrasures ; its roof has an opening like the ceiling of the 
first, through which you pass to the third compartment, the 
roof of which, formed of rough stones, serves as a cover 
to the whole dwelling. This uppermost space is somewhat 
lower than the two inferior ones, and was probably intended 
to hold the provisions. We found in one of them the mum-, 
my of a girl. The central compartment was to all appear- 
ance the dormitory, and a stone sufficiently large, which is 
almost always found in it, served to close the aperture of the 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 235 

floor ; the lower one was at the same time a dwelling-room 
and a kitchen, and we can very easily recognize the hearth. 
With a large flat stone they closed, from within, the outer 
door of the house. 

Upon digging or excavating the ground of one of these 
dwellings, we found, not very deeply buried, earthen pots, 
vessels and jars, two Conopas and human bones. 

Among the public edifices we must consider the hostelries 
and royal inns, the houses of public sports, the baths, palaces, 
monasteries, temples and fortresses. 

The tambos, or royal hostelries, were edifices built without 
the slightest architectural art, constructed of rough stone or 
adobes, and formed a square or rectangle, surrounding a 
plaza sufficiently large, in the middle of which there was a 
watch-tower which overlooked the edifice, little more than a 
fathom high. In the enclosure, cut by two entrances opposite 
to each other, are found very large compartments, to lodge 
the soldiers, and small apartments for the Inca, and the 
nobles or lords of his suite; the doors faced the square. 
These apartments for the soldiery were thirty or forty feet 
wide, and in length six or seven hundred or more ; so that 
it was easy to lodge in them four or five thousand soldiers. 
They were constructed upon the royal road, distant five or 
six leagues one from the other, so that without too much 
fatigue one might conveniently reach in one journey one 
of these lodging-houses. Some authors pretend that the 
number of these tambos amounted to nine or ten thousand, 
which is a great exaggeration, there not having been, in 
truth, a third of this number. 

Similar to the construction of the tambos was that of the 
royal warehouses, and instead of the watch-tower there was 
a small fortress in the centre of the square with a perma- 
nent garrison. Situated in the neighborhood of the seat of 



236 peru. 

the chief Curacas, they were intended as a receptacle for the 
taxes of the provinces, the arms and provisions for the army. 
Coptra was the particular name given to the deposits of 
clothing, shoes and arms ; Pirhua- Coptra to the granaries, 
where they kept the corn and quinua ; and Cumpi- Coptra to 
the warehouses of fine wools and precious cloths, embroi 
dered in the monasteries of the virgins of the Sun. 

The houses for play were joined to the palaces or stood 
alone, and were not distinguished for their architecture, but 
for their extent. They were edifices of four walls only with 
a roof, intended to serve as a square wherein to celebrate the 
feasts, when the rainy season did not permit them to take 
place on the public squares without shelter. Garcilasso de 
la Yega says (Com. Koyal, Book YI. Chap. IY.), that he 
succeeded in seeing four of these halls in Cuzco ; the largest 
was in Cassana, and capable of containing three thousand 
persons, another in Amarucancha ; the smallest in Collcam- 
pata, and another was in the place where now stands the 
Cathedral Church. He relates that one of these Galpones 
was two hundred paces long and fifty or sixty in width. As 
regards its interior plan, whether it had galleries, and tri- 
bunes or other platforms, we know not ; neither do we know 
whether there were similar edifices in other cities. 

The baths or Armanahuasi attracted attention by a certain 
elegance of exterior, and by a rich internal apparatus. The 
fountains (Puquio) were carefully covered at bottom with a 
hydraulic mixture of small stones and a species of bitumen ; 
and over them might be seen arranged the figure of an 
animal, a lion, tiger, monkey, bird or snake, of marble, basalt, 
or even of gold or silver, which threw water from the mouth, 
either in the form of a perpendicular stream, (Huraca) or 
from a horizontal conduit (Paccha). The flowing water was 
conducted through a pipe of metal or stone, into jars of gold, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 237 

silver, or sculptured stone, one of which is in our possession. 
The small sitting-rooms which are seen in these baths, seem 
to have been intended as dressing-rooms, as they were orna- 
mented with statues of stone and metal. The most cele- 
brated baths were the hot baths in Huamalies, made of stone 
sculptured with the greatest exactitude, and internally 
adorned with great luxury. In the warmest fountains 
(Conic puquio) with which the Peruvian mountains abound, 
even in the most efficacious ones, we do not find any traces 
of their having been made use of in the time of the Incas.* 
The royal palaces, or Inca-huasi, whose number from 
Cuzco to Quito amounted to more than two hundred, were 
found not only in the capitals of provinces, and even in 
cities of minor importance, but also in pleasant cities, not 
on the royal road, and were, as to some, very sumptuous, 
constructed of marble or other stones highly polished ; as to 
others, very simple, and only distinguished from the royal 
inns by their uses. Of the most magnificent among them 
we have accounts, either through tradition, or from their 
beautiful ruins; these are found in Tinta, Lampa, Tiahua- 
nacu, in the neighboring islands of Hatuncolla, and of Capa- 
chica, in Paucarcolla, in Cuzco, in the beautiful valley of 
Yucay, in Limatambo, Huamanga, old Huanuco, Chavin, 

* We will here insert the temperature of some of the hot baths, which 
were known to the Incas. 

Baths of Caxamarca, 129.7° Fahrenheit. 

Baths of Huamalies; Banos of Chavin of Huanta, 112° F., Air 52° F. 

Baths of Huallanca, 123° F. and 150° F. 

Vapor baths of Aguamiro, tube of 14 yards, 124° F., the second of 
14 yards, 118° F., Air 70° F. 

Those of Cono, distant half a league, 110° F., Air 68° F. 

Yauli, in four examinations, 120° F., 114° F., 110° F., 92° F., Air 60° F., 
(Sulphurous). 

Baths of Yura of Arequipa, in four trials, 94° F., 90° F., 89° F., 80° 
F., Air 68° F. (Sulphurous). 



238 peru. 

Chachapoya, etc., in Chimu, in Truxillo, and in the kingdom 
of Quito in Puncallacta, Callo in the province of Latacunya 
(Humboldt's Yiews of the Cordilleras, pag. 197. Ulloa, 
Eelation Hist, of Yoyage, etc., Book II. Chap. XI.), in 
Hatuncanar and Tomebamba, in the province of Canar 
(Cie9a de Leon, Chronicles, Chap. XLIY.) and others. The 
majority of the palaces in the north of Peru and of the 
ancient kingdoms of Quito, were built at the end of the 
fifteenth century, and at the beginning of the sixteenth, 
by order of the Inca Huaynacapac, who had a singular pre- 
dilection for architectural works. 

Yiewed externally, the palaces and temples did not present 
as imposing an aspect as the Teocalis of Yucatan; since, 
although they occupied a very considerable space of ground, 
they were low, of two or two- and a half stories in height, 
and disfigured by rustic roofs of straw.* The walls were at 
times admirable for the artificial and neat union of the hewn 
stones, but too simple withal, wanting columns, cornices, 
relievos and other architectural ornaments. The entrance 
to these edifices consisted of a wide aperture in the wall, 
facing the east ; or in a portal covered on the top with beams 
placed as tiles, or with flag-stones, but never with arches. 
A general error among most historians, as well the ancient as 
the modern, is the opinion that the Peruvian architects had 
not attained to the construction of arches and vaults ; for in 
many Huacas of stones we observe vaults very superiorly 
constructed. According to all appearances, they used the 
same plan in making them that the Indian masons employed 

* An exception to this rule was the palace Amaracancha, built by order 
of the Inca Huaynacapac. Garcilasso says (Comment. Royal, II. Chap. 
XXXII.) that he saw it. There was a most beautiful round tower, 
which was in full view, before entering the house. The walls were four 
stories in height, and the roof was so high that it equalled in that particu- 
lar any tower which he saw in Spain, that of Seville excepted 1 ? 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 239 

at the present day, do in the construction of small vaults in 
the smelting ovens ; that is, by filling the space with mate- 
rials forming a convexity, and arching them afterward with 
lime and stone. In some of the larger edifices you meet also 
with vestiges of arches, but it is certain that their application 
was quite limited.* 

The internal architecture of the palaces offers more com- 
plication of detail and more interest. Some large saloons 
and a multitude of small apartments occupied the space of 
the building : they communicated among themselves by in- 
termediate doors, but the majority of them had but one door 
opening into the court surrounding the edifice. The walls 
were sometimes carved, presenting architectural ornaments 
very well executed, and a number of large niches, and small 
boards in the form of shelves. In the most sumptuous 
palaces the walls were covered with small plates of gold and 
silver, and even the floors of some of the principal rooms 

* Stephens, in his travels in Yucatan in 1843, says, speaking of the 
arch of San Francisco of Merida : 

' But this convent contains one memorial far more interesting than any- 
connected with its own ruin, one that carries the beholder back through 
centuries of time, and tells the story of a greater and a sadder fall. 

" In one of the lower cloisters going out from the north, and under the 
principal dormitory, are two parallel corridors. The outer one faces the 
principal patio, and this corridor has that peculiar arch so often referred 
to in my previous volumes, two sides rising to meet each other, and covered, 
when within about a foot of forming an apex, by a flat layer of stones. 
There can be no mistake about the character of this arch ; it cannot for a 
moment be supposed that the Spaniards constructed any thing so different 
from their known rules of architecture ; and beyond doubt, it formed part 
of one of those mysterious buildings which have given rise to so much 
speculation, the construction of which has been ascribed to the most 
ancient people in the old world, and to races lost, perished and un- 
known." 

We have copied this extract as confirmatory proof of our statement 
that the Indians were not ignorant of the mode of constructing the arch. 

[It would rather seem to prove the reverse. — Translator.] 



240 PERU. 

were lined with these metals, which was one of the principal 
causes of their destruction ; the Spaniards having demolished 
them to possess themselves of a material so much coveted. 
In others, you see the floor adorned with . pavement of 
marbles of different colors like mosaic work. In the niches 
were found arranged statues of gold and silver, representing 
men and all sorts of animals. " They counterfeited herbs 
and plants such as grow on walls, and placed them on the 
walls in such way that they seemed to have grown there. 
They imitated on the walls also lizards and butterflies, rats, 
large and small snakes, which seemed to be ascending and 
descending upon them." — (Garcilasso De La Vega, Royal 
Com. Book VI. Chap. I.) 

The monasteries of the virgins of the sun, or Pasna-huasi, 
were large edifices, similar to the royal inns, and sur- 
rounded by high walls. Their number, throughout the 
kingdom, amounted to twenty or twenty-five, and some con- 
tained, servants included, a thousand persons. 

The temples, their most sumptuous edifices, present the 
best specimens of Peruvian architecture, and especially those 
which were dedicated to the supreme Numen, the Sun. These 
may be divided into three classes : those of the first order 
contained seven sections communicating internally. The 
principal part, with a wide door toward the East, occupying 
the middle of the edifice, was dedicated to the Sun or Intt, 
and was the richest in its internal decoration : the second 
section was dedicated to Mama- Quilla, or the moon : the third to 
the stars, or Goyllur ; the fourth to Illapa, or the thunderbolt: 
the fifth to the rainbow, or Ckuichi; the sixth to Huillac ZTmu, 
or high priest, and to the assemblies of the Inca priests, to 
deliberate upon the sacrifice, and every thing concerning the 
service of the temple ; and finally, the seventh was a large 
room only to lodge those entrusted with the worship which 
they performed by alternate weekly services. Beside these, 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



241 



there was a number of small sitting-rooms, for the priests 
and persons employed. 

The temples of the second order contained only two 
principal parts : that of the Sun, and that of the moon ; and 
in those of the third, there was even wanting the chapel 
dedicated to the moon. 

In order to form an idea of the magnitude and beauty of 
the temples of the first order, we will give here a description 
of the temple of the Sun in Cuzco, availing ourselves of the 
accounts of the ancient Chronicles, contemporaneous with 
the conquest, there being left at the place (where at the 
present day stands the convent of the Dominican friars) 
only some fragments, as sad relics of one of the most beauti- 
ful architectural works of the new world. 




VIEW OF PART OP THE CONVENT OP ST. DOMINGO IN CUZCO, BUILT ON THE 
CYCLOPEAN REMAINS OP THE TEMPLE OP THE SUN. 

This temple, called Inti-huasi } or house of the Sun, occupied 



242 peru. 

a large space : ' it had," says an ancient author, " a circuit of 
more than four hundred paces, the whole surrounded by a 
strong wall ; the whole edifice was built of an excellent 
species of fine stone, very well placed and adjusted, and 
some of the stones were very large and lofty ; they used 
neither earth nor lime, only the bitumen with which they 
made their edifices, and the stones were so well placed, that 
no joint or mortar was apparent." 

" Throughout Spain I have seen nothing which may be 
compared with these walls and the laying of these stones, 
but the tower which is called the Callahorra, which is con- 
tiguous to the bridge of Cordova ; and another work which 
I saw in Toledo, when I went to present the 1st part of my 
chronicle to the prince Don Philip." — (Scu-miento, Eelacion 
MS. Chap. XXIV. in Prescott's Conquest of Peru, Book I. 
Chap. III.) 

In the height of the wall, which did not exceed two stories, 
there was on the exterior a species of fillet or cornice of gold, 
a span and a half in width, embedded in the stones. 

The principal part, dedicated to the Sun, had a large door 
in the eastern wall. The ceiling was covered with cotton 
cloth, neatly woven, embroidered with divers colors, which 
very beautifully concealed the internal surface of the roof 
of straw. A band of gold, similar to that on the external 
side, covered the j unction of the roof with the walls. All the 
walls were hung with plates of gold, and tablets of the same 
metal served as doors. In the lower wall, in front of the 
portal, was placed the image of the Sun made of a large plate 
of gold, with a human face and many rays, richly chased, 
with emeralds, and other precious stones.* On both sides of 

* According to Father Acosta and Father Calancha, this golden sun fell 
to the lot of one of the most valiant conquerors, Captain D. Mancio Sierra 
de Liguizano, who staked it one night and lost it before sunrise ; from 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 243 

the image were found corpses embalmed, of the different 
Incas, each one seated upon his throne of gold. 

Communicating with this principal part there was a large 
apartment of polished stones, adorned at the top only with a 
fillet of gold, and which served as a vestibule to five chapels. 
The largest of them was dedicated to the moon, whose image 
of silver, represented with the face of a woman, was presented 
on one of the walls. The walls and door were covered with 
plates of silver : the mummies of the legitimate wives of the 
Incas were placed on both sides of the moon, as those of the 
Incas, their lords, were on both sides of the Sun. The second 
chapel dedicated to the stars, like that dedicated to the moon, 
bad a door of gold; and on the ceiling of blue cloth, yellow 
needle-work in the form of stars. In the third chapel dedi- 
cated to the Yllapa, [or lightning] the walls were of gold, as 
in the room dedicated to the rainbow, which was painted in 
very brilliant colors on one of the walls. Adjoining these 
chapels was a chamber with the walls lined with gold, in- 
tended as a species of sacristy, to Huillac-Umu, and as a con- 
ference hall for the chief priests. 

Garcilasso de la Vega, speaking as an eye-witness, says 
(Com. Eoyal, I. Book III. Chap. XXII.) : M Of these five 
saloons there were three only which remained in their ancient 
state as to walls and roof. They wanted, however, the plates 
of gold and silver : the other two, which were the cham- 
bers of the moon and the stars, were level with the ground. 
In the outside of the walls of those apartments which looked 
into the cloister there were on each side four tabernacles or 
niches, finished with hewn stone, as was all the rest of the 
house ; there were mouldings in the corners and throughout 
the space of the tabernacle or niche, similar to the mouldings 
whence originated in Peru the ordinary proverb, when they would describe 
a desperate gambler : " He gambles away the Sun before he rises." 



244 peru. 

made in the wall, so that they were lined with plates of gold, 
not only the walls and upper part, but also the floors of the 
niches. The corners of the mouldings were very richly in- 
laid with fine stones, emeralds and turquoises, as in that 
country diamonds and rubies were not found. The Inca 
seated himself in these tabernacles on great festival days, 
sometimes in one apartment, sometimes in another, conform- 
ably to the season of the feast." 

All the implements connected with the service of the Sun 
were of gold and silver, as I have previously mentioned. 
The dwellings of the priests, and even those of the servants, 
were richly ornamented with precious stones. Who can 
wonder that the Peruvians themselves called the place of 
this immense edifice, in which nearly five thousand persons 
employed found accommodation, Coricancha, or " the place of 
gold?" 

In the provinces there were many temples, similar in their 
construction to that of Cuzco, but none which surpassed or 
even equalled it in richness. Very sumptuous were those of 
Huillca, of Tumpez, of Tomepampa, of Hatun- Canar, and. of 
Quito, and several others ; but we have not the information 
which would enable us to make a comparison between them. 
Of the other sanctuaries not dedicated to the tutelar Divi- 
nity, with the exception of those which we shall speak of 
in the following chapter, the one which for its architectural 
construction most deserves our attention, is that which the 
Inca Viracocha caused to be constructed, and which Crarci- 
lasso de la Vega (1. c. Book V. Chap. XXII.) describes in 
the following manner: " The Inca Yiracocha ordered to be 
built in a town called Cacha, which is sixteen leagues south 
of the city of Cuzco, a temple in honor of his uncle, whose 
phantom or spirit had appeared to him. He commanded 
that the workmanship of the temple should imitate as far as 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 245 

it was possible the place where the spirit had appeared to him ; 
that it should be (like the field) uncovered, without roof } 
that they should make a small chapel covered with stone, 
which should resemble the hollow of the rock against which 
he had leaned, that it should be one story above the ground, 
that the tracery and the work should be different from any- 
thing which the Indians had ever made before, or would 
make afterward ; because they never made a house or cham- 
ber with an arched roof. The temple was one hundred and 
twenty feet in length, and eighty in width ; it was of polished 
stone, beautifully cut, as is all the stone with which the Indians 
work. It had four doors opening upon the four different 
quarters of the heavens ; three of them were closed, being 
rather imitation portals to serve as an ornament to the walls. 
The door which faced the east served for ingress and egress ; 
it was in the centre of the vault, and as the Indians did not 
know how to make an arched vault ; in order to cover it they 
made inner walls of the same stone, which served as beams, 
and were better, because they lasted longer than they would 
have done, made of timber ; they placed them in rows, leav- 
ing seven feet of space between wall and wall, and the walla 
were three feet thick : thus the walls made twelve aisles. 
They closed them above with flag-stones ten feet in length and 
half a yard in height. Entering by the door of the temple, 
one turned to the right hand through the first aisle, until he 
reached the wall on the right side of the temple; he then passed 
to the left side, through the second aisle, until he reached the 
other wall. From thence he passed again to the right side, 
through the third aisle, and thus (as the spaces go between the 
lines upon this page) the tour of the temple was made through 
every aisle, until the twelfth or the last was reached ; where 
was a staircase, to mount to the top of the temple." 

" In front of each aisle, on both sides, were windows like 



246 peku. 

loop-holes, which gave sufficient light ; under each window 
was a niche made in the wall, where was seated a porter, 
without obstructing the passage through the aisles. The 
staircase was made with two passages, one to ascend and one 
to descend ; these were on different sides ; the one for ascent 
came out in front of the high altar." Of this altar, and of 
the statue of the Deity, we have already spoken in the 
eighth chapter. 

CieQa de Leon, in his Chronicle, mentions some interesting 
temples, dedicated to other Deities, as that one of the island 
Lampuna, consecrated to the terrible Tumped, God of war, 
made of black stone, with its walls covered with sculptures 
and horrible pictures ; the interior entirely obscure, with a 
large altar in the centre, upon which the priest offered 
human sacrifices. Another temple in the province of Manta 
was dedicated to the god of health, Umina, and was distin- 
guished by its architecture and richness. 

The system of fortifications of the ancient Peruvians is 
admirable, and attests a high degree of intelligence. Through- 
out the empire, from the north of Quito, were innumerable 
fortresses or Pucaras, so advantageously placed that the 
choice of the sites where they were built would do honor to 
the more skilful modern engineers, (those of Pativilca, 
Huaraz, Conchucos, for example.) The construction was, if 
we consider the arms used in those days, very strong ; some- 
times simple, sometimes displaying much art, and always 
with an ingenious appropriation of the advantages offered 
by the ground ; some were fortified with bastions, and were 
surrounded with ditches, while the walls were finished with 
parapets. The largest of all the fortresses was that of the 
capital of the empire, and may justly be called one of the most 
wonderful architectural works, attesting the physical strength 
of man. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 247 

Tradition relates that its construction began at the end of 
the fourteenth century, or at the beginning of the fifteenth, 
of our era, under the reign of the Inca Pachacutec, or of his son 
Yupanqui ; and the names even of the architects are preserved, 
(Apu-Huallpa-Rimachi, Inca- Mar icanchi, Acahuana-Inca and 
Callacunchuy,) who successively directed or superintended 
the work. It was built on a rough ridge, called Sacsahua- 
man, a little to the north of the capital ; the declivity of the 
ridge was on one side very steep, defended only by a small 
wall sufficiently high, and more than a thousand feet in 
length ; but it was toward the north that the declivity gently 
lost itself in the plain, and as it was the point most easily 
attacked, it was protected by three walls, one behind the 
other, and with projecting angles of more than twenty yards ; 
these walls were semicircular and connected with the wall 
at the south, and were as long as that was, constructed in a 
Cyclopean manner, that is, of immense polyangular stones, 
which were perfectly fitted the one to the other, without any 
perceptible mortar. These huge masses were rough, except 
only at the joints ; the edges for about the width of a hand were 
finely cut, so that the polished lines of the joints in the 
centre of the mass produced a very beautiful effect. Most 
wonderful is the extraordinary size of the stones which com- 
pose these walls, principally the external ones, as there were 
some among them which were fifty feet in length, twenty- 
two in height, and six in width. Bach wall was at a dis- 
tance of thirty feet from the next one, and the intermediate 
space was terraced to the top of the enclosure ; almost in the 
centre of each was a door, with a movable flag-stone to 
fasten it. The first enclosure was called Tiupuncu, (the door 
of the sandy ground) ; that of the second, Acahuana-puncu 
(the door of the architect Acahuana) ; and that of the third, 
Viracoclia-puncu (the door of the Inca Yiracocha). A parapet 



248 peru. 

half the height of a man's body, garnished each wall. In 
an oblong plaza enclosed by these walls, were three strong 
places in the form of small forts, the largest of which, in the 
centre, called Moyoc Marca (circular tower), was cylindrical, 
and the two on the extremities of the square, Paucar-Marca and 
Sacllac Marca, were squares. The Moyoc Marca was designed 
to receive the family of the Inca, and the wealth of the 
royal palaces, and of the temple of the Sun, in times of war, 
and to serve as a place of rest in certain festivals, during 
peace. Its internal fittings corresponded with that of the 
palaces, all of gold and silver. The two square fortifications 
were of similar construction, with many apartments in them, 
large and small, to lodge the garrison. These forts commu- 
nicated subterraneously with each other, as also with the 
royal palaces, and with the temple of the Sun in the city. 

These subterranean works were, according to tradition, 
very ingenious ; they were commonly four feet wide, and a 
fathom high, but in certain places they were contracted, and 
there were in the walls sharp-pointed stones, so that a man 
could only pass through the centre of them ; or else their 
height diminished so much that only on all-fours was the 
transit possible. All this was with a view of saving the 
wealth of the city in the fonress, and to prevent the pursuit 
of an enemy, for behind each narrow pass was a space just 
wide enough to defend the passage against an entire army. 
History records the valor and constancy with which it was 
defended in the time of Hernan Pizarro, and the presence 
of mind of a certain captain, who, with his formidable mace 
in hand, strode along the battlements, threatened with death 
every Indian who did not remain at his post, and then when 
all was lost, like another Numantin, threw himself headlong 
into the abyss, preferring to perish, rather than be a captive 
to the proud conqueror. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 249 

It is related that the Apostle Saint James appeared during 
the siege, deciding the battle ; and from that time the natives 
held this saint in great veneration, celebrating his feasts 
throughout the interior of Peru. 

At the present day there are on the ridge of Sacsahuaman 
three crosses of wood, and at a few steps distance is seen a 
staircase which descends to the city. A short distance from 
the fortress is a large piece of amphibolic rock known by 
the name of the smooth rolling stone, which served and still 
serves for diversion to the inhabitants, by rolling like a gar- 
den roller, having a sort of hollow formed in the middle 
through friction.* 

Bach fortress had its distinguishing mark : the most cele- 
brated were those of Calcahilares, of Huillcahuaman, of old 
HuanucOj of Chemie in Mansiche, of Hatun- Canar, of Coranqui, 
and others. The small fortress of Huichay, two leagues from 
Tarma, which defends the entrance to this valley, was of 
very peculiar construction. Its entrance through an opening, 
in which the wall was made of small stones, conducted to a 
gallery which led to the fortress. At the foot of the decli- 
vity was a deep ditch, and behind this a bulwark, fourteen 
feet high, flanked by three turrets. A wide cellar or sub- 
terraneous passage, natural in some parts, conducted from 
this fortress, through the centre of the ridge to Tarmatambo, 
where was to be seen a large palace, the ruins of which still 
attract the attention of the traveller. In the cellar was found 
an abundance of provisions, as in times of war it served as a 
granary, and also as dwellings to the neighboring population. 

In the environs of the fort, they procure at the present 
day saltpetre for the manufacture of gunpowder ; and con- 
sequently excavations have so far destroyed it, that in a few 

* In other places they have also these rolling stones, made of smooth 
and very fine sand-stones. 
11* 



250 PERU. 

years the site- of so interesting a monument will be un- 
known. 

"In the valley of Yucay, four leagues from Cuzco, the 
Incas had large edifices and a fortress between unassailable 
rocks ; while around the ridge were terraces, where they 
planted corn abundantly : they had also in the walls of the 
edifices sculptured figures of leopards and other animals sup- 
porting the trophies of their conquests. In the mortar of the 
well-fitted stones is found liquid gold, and it is supposed that 
this was used in memory of the deeds of some prince, as was 
customary in the time of the Eomans." 

The hydraulic system among the ancient Peruvians deserves 
our attention as much as its architecture. They made open 
canals, called Earccac, and subterranean aqueducts, Pinchas 
or Huircas of wonderful extent, overcoming, with great skill, 
all the obstacles which nature opposed, with a view of fer- 
tilizing their arid fields. In many territories, and principally 
in those where the uneven ground of the Sierra extends into 
the Puna, (for example, the heights beyond Tarmatambo on 
the road from Tarma to Jauja, and in the same region of 
Jauja) are found a large number of square fields, almost all 
of the same width, and each one surrounded with a small 
wall of stones. They are now covered with Puna grass, and 
are useless for cultivation. These were the Topus, which 
were allotted to the subjects of the immense kingdom for the 
support of their families. They were in that day watered by 
aqueducts of admirable construction, and eminently useful 
for agricultural purposes. But the Spaniards destroyed these 
channels, and the artificial passages of water having thus 
been dried up, the earth has become altogether sterile. As 
most of these narrow passages were subterranean, it is not 
possible to discover them, but it is known that many of them 
contained pipes of gold which the conquerors considered 



PERUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 251 

profitable booty. The largest space of these azequias or canals 
which has been preserved entire is found in the valley of Nasca, 
which owes its rare fertility in the cultivation of the vine 
solely to the water which was brought by the Pinchas of the 
ancients ; and in the vicinity of Cajamarca is, even now, seen 
one of these channels excavated in the mountains, which 
gives outlet to the waters of a lake ; and another in the plain 
which leads to the ridge of Pasco, having its origin in the 
river which is near Hullay. The subterranean aqueducts 
are found paved with flag-stones closely joined, from four to 
six feet long, and about three feet wide ; their interior altitude 
from the floor to the roof was from six to eight feet. 

Garcilasso de la Yega (Eoyal. Com. I. Book V. Chap. 
XXIY.) speaks of two azequias : one made by the Inca Vira- 
cocha, which, beginning in the heights of the Sierra between 
Parco and Picuy, runs as far as the Pucanas, more than one 
hundred and twenty leagues: another traverses almost the 
whole of Contisuyu, and runs from the south to the north 
more than one hundred and fifty leagues, along the top of 
the steepest Sierras, and extends to the Qutchuas. 

This author adds : " We may compare these canals to the 
greatest works which the world has seen, and give them the 
first place, considering the lofty Sierras over which they are 
carried, the large stones which they broke without instru- 
ments of steel or iron, and which were broke with other 
stones by mere force of arms ; we must remember too that 
they knew not how to make scaffoldings with which to build 
the arches of bridges and span the chasms and small rivers. 
If they had to cross any deep river they headed its sources, 
thus encircling all the Sierras which presented themselves 
before them." 

The bridges which the ancient Peruvians constructed over 
small streams and mighty rivers were very simple, and with- 



252 peru. 

out architectural art, but even better adapted to the violent 
torrents wlueh would not permit them to build permanent 
foundations or piers for arches, and which would have de- 
stroyed their most solid ones, even had they possessed the art 
to fix them in the bed of the stream. In the narrowest part 
of the rivers, they constructed on each bank a buttress of 
middling-sized stones, joined by a mortar of bitumen and 
gypsum, and fastened to them five or six very strong beams, 
to which they attached three strong ropes, placing over them, 
cross- wise, poles, and covering them with branches, small 
stones and sand, so as to form a solid floor : on both sides they 
passed from one end to the other of the bridge a rope, which 
served to lay hold of. They sometimes made use of stones 
for buttresses planted by nature, as is seen in the celebrated 
bridge of Apurimac. 

Those which existed even at the time of the Incas, are that 
of the lake of Lauricocha, in the district of Junin, and that 
of Compuerta, in the department of Puno. Both are com- 
posed of a micaceous and calcareous rock, with broad stones 
of two and three yards, leaving a path about £ of a yard in 
width, and from 1| to 2 yards in height. The buttresses 
are large, broad, and without the slightest mortar.* 

This class of bridges, as also those which consist of a single 
rope to which the traveller fastens himself and his load, in a 
hand-basket which hangs from a staple, and which is drawn 
with ropes from on side to the other, are yet in use, which 
proves their fitness. 

We cannot do less, before concluding this chapter, than 
make a passing observation upon the opinion of a distin- 
guished historian, concerning the works of art among the 
ancient Peruvians. The celebrated French philosopher 

* The celebrated bridge of pure sand between Arequipa and Vitor, we 
are also assured, was constructed in the time of the Incas. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 253 

Eaynal says, in his well-known work :* " It is proper to 
class among fables this prodigious number of cities constructed 
with so much care and so much expense; those majestic 
palaces designed to accommodate the Incas, in their places of 
residence and in their travels ; those fortresses which are 
found scattered throughout the empire ; those aqueducts and 
arcades, comparable only to the magnificence left us by anti- 
quity ; those lofty roads which made communication so easy ; 
those bridges so massive, those wonderful attributes of the 
Quipus which supplied the art of writing, unknown among the 
Peruvians." 

This arbitrary opinion, sustained with the vaguest reasons, 
cannot be characterized in any other terms than by calling 
it an emanation of the skepticism of a publicist who sacrificed 
all historical truth to the prejudices and spirit of party. The 
famous historian Kobertson, without doubt influenced by his 
French predecessor, professed the same opinion, though he 
propounded it with less arrogance. 

Fortunately, the ruins of the monuments whose marvellous 
records dazzle the prosaic imaginations of the authors above 
quoted, will prove to remote centuries the veracity of the 
ancient historians, and will demonstrate the empty conceit 
of certain self-styled philosophers, who bring historical truth 
down to the level of their speculative ignorance. 

* Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements and of the Com- 
merce of the Europeans in the Two Indies, by William Thomas Raynal, 



CHAPTER X. 

ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 

Of all the ancient monuments whose ruins invite our atten- 
tion, there are none which, by their astonishing character, 
their immense extent, and the seemingly impossible labor 
which their construction demanded, impress us more pro- 
foundly than the royal roads which traversed the entire em- 
pire from South to North : the one, over the heights of the 
Cordilleras, admirably surmounting the difficulties interposed 
by nature ; the other descending from Cuzco to the coast, and 
following a route to the North. Travelling over some hun- 
dreds of leagues of these gigantic roads (abandoned at this 
day), and remembering the accounts of the authors who saw 
them in their perfect state immediately after the conquest, 
we could do no less than admire the vast plan of their originator, 
the constancy and power of the Incas in carrying them on 
to completion, and the patience of the people in supporting 
those fatigues and privations in their construction to which 
they were undoubtedly subjected. To build these roads in 
deserts, over shifting sands, reflecting constantly the rays of 
a burning sun ; to break in pieces rocks, to level obstacles 
without iron tools, and without gunpowder ; without com- 
pass, to hold on a line over a lofty mountain region, covered 
with eternal frost ; to fill up profound chasms bordered by 
frightful precipices ; to make a road over rivers, lakes, and 
morasses ; — all this would be an enterprise which, even in the 
existing state of our knowledge and with modern instru- 

(254) 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 255 

ments of labor, would be deemed worthy of the most civilized 
nation now on the globe. 

To give an exact idea of these roads, we will avail our- 
selves of the descriptions of impartial authors. 

Juan de Sarmiento, president of the royal council of the 
Indies, speaking of the road over the Cordilleras, says, in his 
"Kelation of the Succession and Government of the Incas,"^ 
preserved in manuscript in the library of the Escurial: 
" One of the things most wonderful, in contemplating the 
works of this country, was the thought how, and in what 
manner, they were able to make such long and superior 
roads as those we see ; what a large force of men must have 
been required for their construction, and with what iron tools 
or other instruments they were able to level mountains, and 
break in pieces rocks, and to make the roads so broad and 
good as they are. For it seems to me if the Emperor should 
see fit to order the construction of another road, like that 
which leads from Quito to Cuzco, or that which from Cuzco 
goes toward Chili, I certainly think that, with all his power, 
he would not be able to make it ; nor indeed would the 
strength of men accomplish it, without such complete order 
and arbitrary subdivision of labor, as the Incas established 
among their subjects who built their roads ; for if it were a 
road of but fifty, or a hundred, or two hundred leagues, it is 
easy to perceive, that although the earth might be rough, 
still, with great diligence, it might be accomplished. But 
these roads were so extensive that one stretched even eleven 
hundred leagues, all made, too, over large and terrific sierras, 
the bases of which in some places, if one looked down, were 
beyond the reach of sight ; while in others, the sierras were 
perpendicular masses of stone, the sides of which it was 
necessary to excavate to make the road broad and straight ; 
while the only implements for their construction werfc fire 



256 peru. 

and a tool of some kind for picking. Other places were so 
abrupt, high and rugged, that it was necessary to make steps 
from below to reach the summit, midway of which were cut 
broad platforms as resting-plaqes for the laborers in the 
ascent. In other places there were frightful heaps of snow, 
and these of frequent occurrence, not situated as they wished, 
not elevated or depressed as we see it on the plains ; and upon 
this snow, if it were necessary to fill up cavities, they were 
obliged to construct actual mountains of trees and turf, and 
over them to make a smooth paved road. Those who read 
this book, and who have been in Peru, may recall the road which 
goes from Lima to Xauxa, by the sierras of Guayacoin, and 
by the snowy mountains of Pavacaca, and they know that 
they have both seen and heard more than I have here 
written." 

Pedro Ciega de Leon thus writes concerning the road over 
the sierra (Chronicles, Chapter XXXYII.) : " Prom Ipiales 
there is a road leading to a small province named Guaca, 
and before reaching it may be seen the road of the Incas, as 
famous in these parts as that which Hannibal made over 
the Alps, when he descended upon Italy. And it may be, 
it is held in the more estimation as well for the grand lodg- 
ing-places and depositories which are found along its whole 
length, as for the great difficulty of its construction over 
such rough and stony sierras as one cannot contemplate but 
with wonder." Of the road along the coast this author 
speaks more particularly in his seventieth chapter. "And 
here I will notice the great road (says he) which the Incas 
commanded to be made in the midst of the plains ; which, 
although now in many places broken up and destroyed, yet 
furnishes evidence of how great a work it was, and of the 
power of those who caused it to be built. Guaynacapa, and 
Topaynga Yupanque his father, were those who, according 



PERUVIAK ANTIQUITIES. 257 

to the statements of the Indians, traversed the whole coast, 
visiting the valleys and provinces of the Yungas ; although 
there are some Indians who say that the Inca Yupanque, the 
grandfather of Guaynacapa, and father of Topaynga, was the 
first who descended to the coast ; the Caciques and princes 
by his command caused a road to be made fifteen feet broad, 
on each side of which was a very strong wall more than a 
fathom in thickness, while the road was perfectly clear and 
smooth, and shaded by trees ; and from these generally hung 
over the road branches loaded with fruit, while the trees 
were filled with parrots and various other birds. In each 
one of the valleys there were built grand and princely lodg- 
ing-places for the Incas, and depositories for supplies of the 
army ; for they were so timid that they did not dare go on 
an expedition without large supplies ; and if any wrong were 
committed, those in default were severely punished ; so that, 
for instance, if any of those who traversed the road dared 
to trespass on the fields, or intrude into the houses of the 
Indians, even though the damage committed might be but 
trifling, they were punished with death. Along this road 
the side walls extended from one place to another, except in 
those spots where, from the quantity of sand, the Indians 
were not able to lay it solidly in cement ; and at such places, 
that the way might not be lost, they drove in the ground 
large trees properly fitted, after the manner of beams, at 
regular intervals ; and thus they took care to make the road 
smooth and clear over the valleys ; they renewed the walls 
wherever they became ruinous or injured, and perpetual 
watch was kept to see if any large tree, of those in the 
sandy places, was overturned by the wind, in which case 
it was immediately replaced. Thus, it will be seen, this road 
was certainly a great work, although not so laborious as that 
of the Sierra." 



258 peku. 

Don Augustin de Zarrate thus speaks of the two roads (Des- 
cubrimiento y Conquista, Lib. I. Cap. XIII.) : " When 
Guaynacava went from the city of Cuzco with his army to 
conquer the province of Quito, which was about five hundred 
leagues distant, as he went over the Sierra he found great diffi- 
culty in the passage, by reason of the bad roads and immense 
chasms and precipices he encountered. And so it seemed 
right to the Indians to make a new road by which he might 
return victorious from his conquest, (for he had subdued the 
province) and accordingly, they built a road along the whole 
Cordillera, very broad and smooth, breaking and levelling 
rocks when necessary, and filling up to the level, with 
masonry, the chasms sometimes from a depth of fifteen or 
twenty fathoms, until they thus perfected the road for the 
space of five hundred leagues. 

" And they say it was so level when finished, that a car- 
riage might have gone over it ; although afterward, in the 
wars between the Christians and the Indians, in many places 
the masonry over the chasms was broken up to prevent a 
passage of the enemy. And the difficulty of this geat work 
will be seen by any one who considers the labor and cost 
which have been expended in Spain in levelling only two 
leagues of the Sierra between the ridge of Segovia and Gua- 
darrama ; and that it has never been so perfectly done as to 
make even an ordinary way, notwithstanding the Kings of 
Castile pass over it continually with their households and 
court, every time that they go from Andalusia or Toledo to 
this part of the kingdom. 

" And not content with making this remarkable work, 
when, at another time, the same Guaynacava wished to re- 
turn from the province of Quito, which he much prized be- 
cause he had conquered it, he returned through the low 
country or plains, and the Indians then made over them 



PEEUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 259 

another road of as much difficulty as that on the Sierra ; for 
in all the valleys refreshed by streams and forests, (which, 
as we have before said, commonly covered a league) they 
made a road almost forty feet wide, with very large adobe 
walls from one end to the other, and the walls were four or 
five adobes in height ; and when they left the valleys they 
continued the same road over the sands, driving down trees 
and stakes on the line, so that no one could lose the road, 
nor be turned from it through its whole length, which, like 
that of the Sierra, was five hundred leagues. And although 
these trees in the sandy parts are now broken in many places, 
because the Spaniards, both in peace and war, used them for 
fuel, still the walls in the valleys are, at this day, entire in 
most places, by which one may judge of the former greatness 
of the work ; and so Guaynacava went by one road and re- 
turned by the other, being covered and shaded all the way 
by overhanging branches and flowers of sweet odor." 

Lopez de Gomara (Hist. Gen. Cap. 194) says: "There were 
two royal roads from the city of Quito to that of Cuzco, very 
costly and noble works : the one over the mountains, and 
the other across the plains, each extending more than a 
thousand miles. That which crossed the plains was walled 
on both sides, and was twenty-five feet broad, with ditches 
of water outside, and was planted with trees called molle. 
That which was on the mountains was also twenty-five feet 
wide, cut in some places from the living rock, and in others, 
made of stone and lime ; for, indeed, it was necessary to cut 
away the rocks or fill up the valleys to bring the road to a 
level : — it was a work which, as all agree, exceeded the pyra- 
mids of Egypt, and the paved ways of the Eomans, and, 
indeed, all other ancient works. Guaynacapac restored, en- 
larged, and completed them ; but he did not build them en- 
tirely, as some pretend, nor could they have been constructed 



260 PERU. 

in the whole time of his life. These roads went in a direct 
line, without turning aside for hills, mountains, or even lakes ; 
and for resting-places they had certain grand palaces which 
were called • tambos,' where the Court and royal army lodged : 
these were provided with arms, food, shoes, and clothing for 
the troops. The Spaniards, in their civil wars, destroyed 
these roads, breaking them up in many places, to impede the 
march of each other ; and the Indians themselves demolished 
a part of them when they waged war and laid siege to the 
cities of Cuzco and Lima, where, the Spaniards were." 

Juan Botero Benes thus speaks : " From the city of Cuzco 
/ there are two roads or royal ways of two thousand miles in 
length: of which, one goes over the plains, and the other 
over the top of the mountains, in such manner, that to make 
them, it was necessary to fill up valleys, to cut away rocks, 
and remove the summits of mountains. They are twenty- 
five feet wide. Works which are, beyond comparison, greater 
than the monuments of Egypt or the structures of Eome." 

Don Juan de Velasco, a priest of Quito, in treating of the 
great spaces of the upper road, very well preserved, which 
he examined on the mountain of Sashuay, thus writes (Hist, 
del Eeyno de Quito, Tom. II. Part II. Pag. 59) : 

" The breadth which I measured, in a part somewhat 
broken, was about sixty Ca^tilian varas : in another part 
which was perfect, it was more than seven varas, which is 
more than twenty -one feet, a space sufficient for three car- 
riages to go side by side. It may be that the twenty-five 
feet of which Gomara speaks were ladies' feet ; and that the 
fifteen of Cieca and Eobertson were those of giants. The 
part cut out of the living rock, to equalize the surface, was 
covered with a cement or a mixture of lime and bitumen. 
The earth-supported and less firm parts were made of 
stone covered with the same mixture, in which might be 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 261 

seen very minute stones, yet much larger than coarse grains 
of sand. In the chasms and fissures of the mountains, the 
road was built up from foundations deep below, to the proper 
level, with large stones cemented with the same mixture. 
What struck me with surprise was, that where the torrents 
of water from the rains above had rushed down and eaten 
out, in the less firm parts, the portion below the surface, there 
was left in the air a causeway like a very firm bridge of a 
single stone ; such was the strength of this cement or mix- 
ture." 

" The difference in the extent of these roads, the only point 
in which the early writers differ (!), arises from the different 
calculations of leagues and miles, and from the different 
points toward the north whence they begin i>o compute. 
They did not begin at the city of Quito, as some have said, 
but in the province of Dehuaca, one degree further north, 
which is equal to one hundred miles more. From the city 
of Quito to Cuzco by the upper road, the shortest distance is 
computed at five hundred leagues of four thousand lawful 
paces, which makes two thousand miles; while the upper 
road is in truth, at the shortest, twenty-one hundred miles. 
The lower road is much longer." 

Finally, the learned Humboldt, who travelled over a part of 
the royal road of the Incas, thus describes it (Ansichten der 
Natur. 3d Ed. Tom. II. p. 322) : 

"But what, above all things, relieves the severe aspect of 
the deserts of the Cordilleras, are the remains, as marvellous 
as unexpected, of a gigantic road, the work of the Incas, 
which, over a length of more than two hundred and fifty 
geographical miles, makes a communication between all the 
provinces of the empire. The traveller discovers at different 
points, and for the most part, at equal distances, edifices con- 
structed of well-cut stone, a species of caravanseras, called 



262 peru. 

tambos, or inca-pilca. Some of these edifices are found pro- 
vided with fortifications ; others present in their arrange- 
ments baths, with conduits of warm water ; in fine, the larger 
ones were designed for the family of the sovereign himself. 
At the foot of the volcano Cotopaxi, near to Callo, I mea- 
sured and made designs of some of these habitations, so well 
preserved, which Pedro de Cieca, in the sixteenth century, 
called the apartments ofMulado. In the pass of the Andes, be- 
tween Mansi and Loxa, called Paramo de Assuay, at fourteen 
thousand five hundred and sixty-eight feet of height, (a road 
much frequented on the side of Cadlud, almost of the same 
altitude as Mont Blanc) we found on the plain of Puttal 
much difficulty in making a way for the mules over a 
marshy piece of earth, while, for more than a German mile, 
our sight continually rested on the superb remains of a paved 
road of the Incas, twenty feet wide, which we marked resting 
on its deep foundations, and paved with well-cut, dark por- 
phyritic stone. This road was wonderful, and does not fall 
behind the most imposing Eoman ways which I have seen in 
France, Spain and Italy. By barometrical observation, I 
found that this colossal work was at an elevation of twelve 
thousand, four hundred and forty feet, which exceeds, by 
more than a thousand feet, the height of the Peak of Tene- 
riffe. At this same level there are found at Assuay tbe 
rains of the palace of Inca Tupac- Yupanqui, known under 
the name of the l Paredones del Inca? From here the road 
goes toward the south in the direction of Cuenca, and ends 
at Canar, a small fortress in good preservation, which pro- 
bably goes back to the times of the Inca above named, or to 
those of his warlike son, Huayna-Capac." 

" We have also seen most beautiful remains of ancient 
Peruvian roads between Loxa and the river Amazon, near 
the baths of the Incas, in the Paramo [desert or open place] 



PEEUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 263 

of Chulucanas, not far from Guancabamba, and in the neigh- 
borhood of Ingatambo, near Pomahuaca. The remains of 
the road of the Incas near Pomahuaca has but little elevation, 
and my observations show that it is nine thousand one hun- 
dred feet lower than those of the Paramo de Assuay. Ac- 
cording to astronomic latitudes, the distance between them 
in a right line is forty-six geographical miles, and the higher 
exceeds, by thirty-seven hundred feet, the altitude of the pass 
of Mount Cenis, above the lake of Como. Some of these 
paved roads, laid with flat stones, or, as in certain parts, 
covered with pebble stones and gravel [Macadamized roads], 
traverse the broad and arid plain between the sea-shore and 
the chain of the Andes ; while others turn toward the Cor- 
dilleras. They have way-marks placed at regular intervals, 
which indicate the distances. It is also to be remarked that 
for passing rivers and precipices they have bridges of stone 
or of cords [suspension bridges], while aqueducts supply 
water to the small towns, and to the tambos or lodging-places. 
These two systems of roads met at Cuzco, the great central 
point of the empire." 

The remains of the upper road, which we have measured, 
vary, in different places, from eighteen to twenty -five Casti- 
lian feet. The lower road is about one foot wider. The 
statements of all the authors cited, as to the length of these 
roads, are somewhat exaggerated. Cuzco, according to Pent- 
landt, is in S. latitude 13° 30' 55", and in W. longitude 74° 
14' 30", and at a height of 10,676 feet above the level of the 
sea. Quito, according to Oltmanns, is in 0° 14' 00" S. lati- 
tude, and 81° 40' 38" W. longitude, which would make the 
distance between them, in a direct line, a little more than 
three hundred leagues ; if to this ve add for the continuation 
of the road northward from Quito to Dehuaca, and for neces- 
sary turnings, one hundred leagues, we have a total of four 



264 peru. 

hundred. The lower road, by reason of the two angles which 
it makes in descending from Cuzco to the coast, and again in 
ascending from the coast to Quito, was about a hundred and 
twenty leagues longer. What Sarmiento says of eleven 
hundred leagues on the Sierra is not true ; but the errors of 
his day are more excusable, as distances were then calculated 
approximatively only. 

In considering the most interesting monuments of archi- 
tecture, we will begin at the North, with the immense ruins 
of the palaces of Gran Chimu. Don Mariano E. Eivero 
visited them, and thus describes them in a little work printed 
in Lima, in 1841, and subsequently republished in London : 

" These ruins are found at the extremity of the valley of 
Truxillo, and at the distance of a league and a half from 
Huanchaco. We have no data from which to fix with cer- 
tainty the period when this place was built : all we know is, 
that in the time of the Peruvian Inca Pachacutec, who was . 
the ninth monarch, there reigned in these valleys as absolute 
sovereign Chimu Gipac, whose proper name was Chimu Canchu; 
that the Inca's son, the prince Yupanqui, with an army of 
thirty thousand men, began to make war on this ruler Chimu: 
that Chimu's pride was subdued, and by the advice of his 
captains, he was induced to capitulate, offering to worship 
the Sun, and abandon the idols of his country, which con- 
sisted of the representations of fish and other animals. In 
memory of this victory, the Inca commanded certain fortresses 
to be built in the valley of Paramanca, the ruins of which 
may be seen in the neighborhood of Pativilca. 

The ruins of Chimu cover a space of three-quarters of a 
league, exclusive of the great squares, the walls of which 
are of small stones joined together with mortar ; and which 
probably were used as fields for agriculture, as the marks of 
the furrows are even to this day visible. 



PEKUVIAN" ANTIQUITIES. 265 

From the village of Mansiche, which is at the gates of 
Truxillo, we begin to see the walls of adobe, and the vestiges 
of this once great settlement ; and at the distance of a mile 
from the native village just named, on the left hand of the 
road from Huanchaco, commence the grand squares. The 
dimensions of these vary from two hundred to two hundred 
and seventy yards in length, and from one hundred to one 
hundred and sixty in breadth ; their number may be seven 
or eight : they are found on the north side of the large 
edifices or palaces. The walls which surround those edifices 
are of considerable solidity, and are formed of adobes of ten 
or twelve yards long, and five or six broad in the lower 
part of the wall, but gradually diminishing until they termi- 
nate in a breadth of one yard at the top. Some of the 
squares contain Huacas, and the walls of large apartments 
or halls.* 

Each of the palaces was completely surrounded by an ex- 
terior wall ; that of the first is plain, and double the size of that 
of the second. It was five yards broad at the bottom, 
tapered gradually to one at the top, and was fifty in 
height. It is constructed of stone and mortar and adobes. 

In the first palace, which is the larger, there is another 
square in which are found apartments made of small 
stones and mortar, whitewashed within, with the thres- 
holds of stone from one and a half to two yards long, and 
more than a third of a yard in thickness: it is supposed 
that these were sepulchres, or perhaps apartments for the 

* The word Huaca, or as it is written in old Spanish, Gaaca, is Peruvian, 
and property signifies any sacred place or thing ; and also sometimes any 
thing, whether sacred or not, that is excellent or extraordinary. It was 
a generic term, and was applied by the natives to their idols and places of 
worship. It is hero applied to places of interment, large sepulchres con- 
taining many dead bodies. — [Translator.] 
1% 



266 peru. 

concubines of Chimu. There are also several jtlazos regularly 
laid out by line, thus forming different streets, of varying 
dimensions. The large excavation in which are now grow- 
ing several fig-trees was the reservoir from which the 
inhabitants obtained the water they needed ; and was sup- 
plied by subterranean aqueducts from the river Moche, 
which is distant about two miles to the north-east. This 
palace had two entrances opposite to* each other, and placed 
respectively in the middle of the longer sides. On the east- 
ern side, and about thirty yards from the right angle formed 
by the walls, there was a square or enclosure of five hundred 
yards, by four hundred in extent, which reached to the sea: 
in this were found some small houses and a Huaca with sub- 
terranean passages in its most solid parts. Beside this, there 
were other squares which were enclosed for agricultural pur- 
poses. 

The second palace is at a distance of one hundred and 
twenty-five yards east of the first, and is placed parallel to 
it. It contains various plazas and houses, from the regular 
arrangement of which result streets, though somewhat narrow. 
At one of the extremities is the Huaca of Misa, surrounded 
by a low wall. This Huaca is traversed by small alleys from 
three-quarters to a yard in width, and in it are also found 
some tolerably large chambers. In former times there have 
been taken from this Huaca many mummies, cloths, various 
pieces of silver and gold, iron [?] tools, and an idol of stone 
with small pieces of mother of pearl, which are now in the 
possession of Senor Condemarin. 

All the walls of these interior edifices are of the mixture 
of which we have already spoken, or of adobes, half a yard 
long, and a quarter of a yard wide. We subjoin vertical 
sections which will give an idea of the walls, and of the 
labor employed in their construction. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



267 




SECTIONS AND PORTIONS OF THE EDIFICES AT GRAN-CHIMU", IN THE VALLEY OP 
HiUXILLO. 



Outside of these remarkable edifices there was a great 
number of enclosures arid small houses, some round and 
others square, which undoubtedly were the habitations of the 
lower classes; and the great extent of which justify us in 
supposing that the population must have been very nu- 
merous. 

Among these ruins there exist many small artificial emi- 



268 peru. 

nences composed of small stones in the form of a truncated 
cone ; these are known nnder the name of Huacas ; and 
from these have been frequently obtained curiosities illustra- 
tive of the ancient inhabitants ; and there is not the least 
doubt that the subterranean explorers have also sometimes 
found riches. 

It is well known that in 1563, Don Diego Pineda being 
then chief magistrate, there were discovered in the sepul- 
chres of the principal Indians considerable quantities of gold, 
in pieces of various forms. It appears from the books of the 
royal coffers of Truxillo, of 1566, that Garcia Gutierrez of 
Toledo, grandson of Antonio Gutierrez, gave to the king, 
as his fifths, on the first occasion, 85,547 castellanos of 
gold* from the Huaca which was known by the name of Tole- 
do, reserving for the benefit of the Indians of the villages of 
Mansiche and Huaman, 39,062 dollars and four reals. In 
the year 1592, the work w&s resumed, and there was paid 
as the king's proportion, 47,020 castellanos, so that the 
monarch received in all 135,547 castellanos.f 

In the year 1550, the cacique of the village of Mansiche, 
Don Antonio Chayque, a legitimate descendant of the ruler 
Chimu Canchu, showed to the Spaniards a Huaca called 
Llomayoahuan, near to the ruined palace of Chimu Canchu, 
upon condition that they should give a part of the treasure 
obtained for the relief of his Indians ; and after having 
robbed it of great wealth, the agreement was violated by 
the Spaniards ; the cacique then pretended that he knew of 
a still greater treasure which he could discover, to obtain 
which, they gave him 42,187 dollars, which they raised by a 
tax charged on the inhabitants in favor of the Indians before 
named ; of this very little of the principal now remains, 

* A castellano is about 5s. C'd. sterling. — [Translator.] 
t Nearly $170,000. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 269 

partly from the calamities of the times, and partly from the 
unfaithful administration of the protectors of the Indians, 
or the collectors of the taxes. — {Feijoo de jSosa.) 

It is certain that there have been obtained from the Huaca 
of Concha, half a league from the city, considerable quan- 
tities of gold, and also some fetters, which are supposed to 
be of copper, and were preserved for the Bishop of Cuonca, 
by Don Miguel Concha y Mansuvillaga. The Huaca of the 
bishop, distant half a league from the one above mentioned, 
is the largest of all, but up to this time has yielded nothing. 
The Huaca of Misa, which is in the second palace, has been 
worked with some loss, and is traversed almost through its 
whole extent by small alleys more or less narrow, and white- 
washed ; the coverings of which are of stone, from a yard and 
a half to two yards wide. From this have been taken various 
pieces of gold, many idols, mantles, and one stone idol, of 
which we have already spoken. From many other small 
Huacas have been obtained mantles well adorned with 
square pieces of gold ; detached pieces of the same metal, 
and robes made with feathers of divers colors ; these were 
found by Dr. Casaverde, and should be now in London. 

It is but a short time since a company, composed of inhabi- 
tants of Truxillo, ceased to work the Huacas of Toledo and 
Concha ; and it is even said that, in the first, has been found the 
great peje ;* near to the second has been lately found very thin 
plates of gold about two inches broad, also instruments of 
stone, and mantles, all of which are in the possession of Don 
Jose Jlodriguez. 

* There is a tradition that in this Huaca were two treasures, known as 
the great and little peje ; that the first is still buried, and that the second 
has been found at Toledo. 



270 




WALLED SQUARE IN PALACE OF CHIMU-CANCHU, NEAR TRUXILLO. 




SCULPTURED PANELS ON A WALL OF PALACE AT CHIMU-CANCHU. 




SCULPTURED ORNAMENTS ON THE WALL OF PALACE AT CHIMU-CANCHU. 



To this relation we will add a short notice concerning 
certain curiosities, found in the Huacas of Toledo, and else 
where, as communicated by Bon Jose Ignacio Lequende to 
the " Peruvian Mercury" (Vol. VIII. p. 80). One of these 
was the body of an Indian with a head-covering or veil, and 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 271 

a crown with four tassels, of which two hung down on the 
back, and the other two before, in front of the ears. On 
his neck was a species of broad cravat, the ends of which 
fell upon the breast; in one hand was something like a nail, 
and in the other a symbol which was unintelligible. His 
outer robe was a tunic terminating in points. Another was 
also the body of an Indian seated with his legs crossed 
under him, (which, by the way, is a very common posture 
among them,) his hands upon his knees, his temples bound 
with a sort of swathe or turban, the ends of which reached 
below his beard ; two others crossed this with a skirt which 
fell down behind, from which came two rounded pieces to 
cover the shoulders ; on the top of his bonnet there was a 
shell adorned with much beauty. Another was a model of 
clay, which represented an Indian with his cap stuck on one 
side of his head, his hair dishevelled, and hanging about his 
ears, and in the attitude of a toper about to drink ; on his 
shoulder was a monkey seated by his ear. Another figure 
was of an Indian of very grave aspect, sitting, with a mitre 
on his head, which he was in the act of adjusting; certain 
pendants hung from each arm, and a mantle, girdled at the 
waist, descended and covered his feet. 

The temple of the Sun was situated three-quarters of a 
league east of the city, and half way from the native village 
of Moche : it is found at the foot of a rock pertaining to the 
Cordilleras, composed of sienite, in which occur veins of a 
compact amphibolic rock which runs from north to south ; 
there are also to be seen veins of feldspar ; these are greatly 
ramified, and frequently cross each other. At the foot of this 
rock may be seen an edifice, with many surrounding habita- 
tions in ruins : it is almost square, having a front of one hun- 
dred and eight yards ; it is surrounded by a wall four yards 
broad, made of adobes, as indeed is the whole edifice. It is 



272 peru. 

said that here was the dwelling-place of the priests and vir- 
gins of the temple. It has a length of 150 }^ards, a breadth 
at the upper end of 125, and at the lower of 156; its height 
is from thirty to thirty-five yards. It is constructed in ter- 
races of four yards each, inclining inward from the founda- 
tion, which is, of course, the broadest part. It has the shape 
of a [sledge] hammer, and is built of adobes ; toward the 
centre, and in the lower part, it is traversed by a small street, 
which is dark and full ojf bats. The direction is from north 
to south : from this point is presented a magnificent view 
embracing the whole valley, the sea, and the city of Truxillo." 

Worthy to be placed by the side of these wonderful ruins 
are those of Cuelap, of the district of Saint Thomas, a descrip- 
tion of which is given by Don Juan Crisostomo JVieto, judge of 
the first tribunal, in the following official communication of 
the 31st of January, 1843, made to the prefect of the depart- 
ment of the Amazon, Don Miguel Mesia. 

" Having been appointed in this territory of Cuelap to ad- 
just the boundaries commanded to be made by the Supreme 
Governor of the Republic, in the course of the labor, I have 
encountered a work well worthy of public notice. It is a 
solid wall of cut stone, three thousand six hundred feet long, 
five hundred and seventy broad, and a hundred and fifty 
high: the whole structure being solid in the interior; since 
the whole space contained within the 5,376,000 feet (?) of cir- 
cumference, having, as before said, a height of one hundred and 
fifty feet, is a solid mass of earth: upon this terrace there is 
another wall of three hundred thousand feet in circumference, 
being six hundred long on one side, and five hundred on the 
other, with the same elevation of one hundred and fifty feet 
that the lower wall has. This upper enclosure is also filled 
in with earth, like the lower. But in this upper elevation, 
as well as in that below, are found a multitude of habitations 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 273 

or chambers made of cut stone, of the size of eighteen feet 
by fifteen ; and in these chambers, as well as in the stone 
work of the outer solid walls, are found niches, artificially 
made, of a yard or two-thirds of a yard in length, and of half 
a yard in width, in which are deposited the bones of those 
long since dead ; some of these are naked, and others envel- 
oped in cloths of cotton, very thick, and sometimes coarse ; 
and all wrought with borders of many colors. The only dif- 
ference between these niches and those of our Pantheons is 
in their depth ; for instead of the two or three yards which 
we now use, to place our bodies, (as we do place them) after 
death in a straight position, they only used a few feet ; be- 
cause they so doubled them that their knees reached to the 
point of their beard, and their hands were twined about their 
legs, and the whole position resembled that of the foetus of 
four months. There were three doors or openings in the 
solid wall, and these call for our notice ; for the right side 
of each one of these openings is semicircular, while the left is 
angular; and from the base of the entrance commenced an 
inclined plane, which ascended, by almost imperceptible 
gradations, to the top of the elevation mentioned, of one 
hundred and fifty feet; and this, half way up, had on it a 
species of sentry-box, from which, as it proceeded, it diverged 
from its former direct course, and made a curve to the right, 
having also, at the upper extremity, an ingenious hiding- 
place, made of cut stone, from which the passage of any one 
from below might be effectually impeded. The entrance be- 
low commenced with a width of six feet ; but in the interior, 
at the upper end, this was diminished to two feet, and as soon 
as the summit was reached, the landing was on a look-out, 
from which was a commanding view, not only of the plain 
below, and of all its roads, but even of a considerable part of the 
province, embracing the capital at a distance of eleven leagues. 
12* 



"274: peru. 

Proceeding onward, we next came upon the entrances and 
inclined plane of the second wall ; this wall differed from the 
first in length and breadth only, in height (as we have said) 
it was the same. Here were found other sepulchres which 
were built like ovens, six feet in height, and twenty-four or 
thirty in circumference ; the floors of these were paved with 
flat stones, and on each rested the remains of a man or 
woman. Having examined these places yesterday, I and my 
companions paused to rest ; to-day we ascended to the top of 
a rock which is without the walls, and a part of which, in fact, 
serves as a foundation for the edifices. Having, with much 
toil, passed over a road almost destroyed by the waters, and 
having subjected ourselves to the dangers of descending an 
almost perpendicular depth of nine hundred feet, by aiding 
each other, we came to a hollow or species of cavern, formed 
by the rocks which make the hill, in which were ten bundles 
of human bones, perfectly preserved, wrapped each in its 
mantle or covering. One of these bundles contained the re- 
mains of a man of full age, and was covered with a cloth 
made of hair, which, together with the skeleton it covered, is 
in my possession ; another, probably the remains of a 
woman, I left, because in separating a bone from the leg, the 
head was broken from the trunk. This woman must have 
been aged when she died, since she was gray-haired; and 
without doubt, she was the mother of the seven children, 
the skeletons of which composed seven of the ten bundles 
we found. Of these I have two, and Don Gregorio Rodri- 
guez also brought away two, together with a cotton mantle 
of various colors, and a scarf wrought in colors. . We left 
three skeletons of children and one of an adult, because the 
ligaments which held the bones together were broken. All 
had the same posture, and the hair of the children was very 
fine, short, and red, and not like that of the present natives; 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 275 

the females liad in their ears golden ornaments, and also about 
the head a large twisted roll of coarse cotton. 

I have since felt much regret at not having been able to 
pursue my examinations at this locality, as probably I might 
have discovered more ; but we found it necessary to take a 
new direction to look at another spot where, we were assured, 
there was more to be seen. To accomplish this we descended 
on the north side, and afterward came to the foot of a very steep 
hill, which we found unusually difficult of ascent, because of 
the dry grass with which it was covered, causing us to slip 
back at every step. Having ascended some six hundred feet, 
we found it impossible to proceed further, because of a per- 
pendicular rock which intercepted our approach to a stone 
wall containing small windows, about sixty feet above us ; 
and for want of a ladder and time we could not see what 
was within the wall, which stood on an elevation command- 
ing a view, as far as the eye could reach, to the east, north 
and west. We were therefore obliged to leave, regretting 
that we could know nothing of what this work might indi- 
cate, nor of the fossil remains and other objects of interest in 
the wall itself, nor of what might be contained in the space 
within ; for the little time which I could spare from official 
duties did not allow me to be long absent from the capital, 
lest the administration of justice should suffer in my absence. 
These obstacles, too, were increased by the difficulty of pro- 
curing hands to undertake any work ; for the natives had a 
great dread of this spot, on account of the mummies it con- 
tained ; they supposing that it would occasion disease to 
touch them only, and they were frightened even by simply 
looking at them. But by working ourselves, and handling 
the bones with great freedom before the natives, the more 
intelligent of them lost at length a portion of the fear which 
their prejudice had inspired. There were also reasons why 



276 peru. 

I could not approach the wall before named on the south- 
west side, where I was assured there were some curiously 
formed trenches ; for it was impossible to ascend from below, 
and the only mode of ascent would have been by ropes let 
down from the top of the wall itself. Nor could I visit a 
subterranean excavation which Don Gregorio, a man of charac- 
ter, assured me existed on the opposite bank of the river of 
Condechaca, and where, as he said, were many skulls, small 
excavations, and other objects ; he had penetrated it to a dis- 
tance at which the lights were extinguished for want of air, 
and he could proceed no further." 

The ruins of old Huanuco are chiefly interesting from the 
six portals, which are well preserved one within the other, 
and of which it is not positively known whether they formed 
a part of the sumptuous palace of the Incas, or of the immense 
temple of the Sun which was so imposing in the reign of the 
sovereigns of Peru, and which "alone had room for the ser- 
vice of more than 30,000 Indians," (Ciega i Chron. Chap. 
LXXX.) Another object of interest is a species of look-out, 
the use of which in ancient times we do not know, but which 
was probably the place where priests offered their sacrifices 
to the Sun. 




GATEWAYS — OLD HUANUCO. 



(277) 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



277 



.' — 



GROUND PLAN — GATEWAYS — OLD HUANUCO. 




LOOK-OUT — OLD HUANUCO. 



The architecture of these ruins is singularly distinct from 
that of the other edifices in the time of the Peruvian Emper- 
ors, and according to all appearances derives its origin from 
an era more remote than the dynasty of the Incas. Don 



278 peru. 

Mariano Eduardo de Kivero says : " The ruins of old 
Huanuco are two leagues distant from the town of Aguamiro 
toward the west. The Indians know the ruins under the 
name of Auqui-Huanuco ; they are situated in a plain, four 
leagues in length and three in width, and at a height of 3600 
metres above the level of the sea. This ancient settlement is 
converted, at the present day, into a place for herding cattle, 
and you meet here and there with a few Indians only, who 
do not understand the Spanish language. Among the ruins 
you notice particularly the fortress, or look-out, and the 
palace. The bulk of the settlement is about three-quarters 
of a mile from these edifices, and the look-out about a half- 
mile from the entrance of the palace. 

The look-out is quadrilateral, fifty-six paces in length and 
thirt}r-six in width; the height of the wall is about five yards, 
and inclined inward from the base. It rests upon two courses 
of round stone about a yard and a half high. The walls are 
a yard and a quarter in thickness, and are of cut stone, termi- 
nating in a cornice, which is composed of a blue shell lime- 
stone : the stones are a yard and a half in length, and half a 
yard thick. With few exceptions, the stones which compose 
the walls are of equal dimensions, and are, generally speaking, 
very well cemented. The interior is composed of gravel 
and clay, but in the centre is seen a large cavity, which they 
assert communicates by a subterranean passage with the 
palace. On the southern side is a door, and instead of steps 
a terrace after the manner of an inclined plane, which was a 
contrivance much used by the Indians, judging from appear- 
ances, to raise large masses to the upper part of the edifices. 
At the door- way are observed two partially effaced figures, of 
which it is hard to say whether they were meant for monkeys 
or other animals. From the upper story may be distinguished 
the whole plain, and the gates of the famous palace. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 279 

Our design represents the six portals of the house of the 
Inca. Upon entering it, on the right and left hand are two 
saloons of more than one hundred yards in length and four- 
teen in width, with their corresponding doors. The walls, 
which are of Pirca (round stones mixed with clay only, 
without any order), one yard and a half in width, have 
sculptured stones in the doorways only. You next enter the 
first portal or gate of sculptured stone, three yards in height 
and one and a half in width ; the opening of the door is two 
yards, the lintel is of one single stone four yards long, and 
half a yard thick. The jambs are of one single piece, 
and seem to be sculptured by chisel. There are to be seen 
two figures cut in the same piece, which seem to be monkeys. 

About three yards distant, comes the second gate, con- 
structed in the same manner, except only that it has two 
sculptured figures, effaced in the upper part. You enter 
next a spacious court, surrounded with stone of Pirca, of 
slight elevation, and three-quarters of a yard in width ; in 
continuation and in the same line are found two other gate- 
ways of similar architecture, but of smaller dimensions. 

Next comes another smaller court, and finally two other 
gates, still smaller, and of sculptured stone. Passing these, 
there are found on the left hand rooms of cut stone, five 
yards in length, two and a half in width, and four in height; 
there are also niches in the walls. There are other rooms 
of cut stone, through which passes an aqueduct, which is 
said to have been the bathing-place of the Inca. 

In front of the dwellings is found an artificial terrace, 
sufficiently wide, and underneath ti large court where it is 
supposed several species of animals were kept for the diversion 
of the monarch. In the centre was a receptacle for water; 
an aqueduct passes through the last gate, and very near the 
sculptured rooms. 



280 PERU. 

In one of these is found a niche, where they assert the 
maids were placed in order to see whether it would -contain 
them, and if they could get in, they were deemed fit for the 
service of his majesty. (?) There are also, at the first gateway, 
two holes, which perforate the wall, and are said to have been 
the place of punishment ; the first is hollowed in the form of 
the breast, of a convenient height, and was, without doubt, 
intended for the women, the second being for the men.(?) 

The direction of these edifices is from east to west, and 
the stones of which they are composed are blue lime and 
sand-stone. 

To the south-west of the look-out, and about a quarter of 
a league from it, are seen houses made on the same ridges, 
forming a series of terraces or steps, and it is said that there 
they preserve the grain of seven provinces. 

We must take notice that the army of Liberty, in the year 
1824, marching toward the south, in the campaign against 
the Spaniards, encamped in the very same places where 
halted the army of the Inca, when he marched to the con- 
quest of Quito. 

The stones of which the palace and fortress are composed 
were taken from a ridge, about half a mile distant, and there 
is yet to be seen some lying cut in the quarry. At a short 
distance are to be seen the vestiges of a large settlement, 
which seems to have contained many thousand inhabitants ; 
and this probably was a favorite spot, and of much impor- 
tance to the Incas. All the walls are made of round stones 
and clay. The celebrated hot-baths of Aguamiro are two 
miles from this old town.' 

At the distance of three-quarters of a league from Miro- 
Jiuaiu, is the place where criminals were interred, and which 
served also as a prison; it has a deep well. 

Near the town of Chupan, and on the banks of the Mara- 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 281 

no)i, is a tower situated on the upper part of a. high ridge 
which overhangs the river, and rises above the road which. 
passes by its foot ; it forms a most frightful precipice, from 
which they threw criminals into the waters of this powerful 
current. 

In speaking of the ruins of the district of Junin, Don 
Mariano E. de Eivero says : — 

" At the town of Chavinillo begins a system of fortifica- 
tions or castles, as these places are called, situated on both 
sides of a chasm. It has not yet been discovered what in- 
duced the Incas to construct in this part of the interior, and 
away from the great road which led to Quito, so many places 
of defence ; but ifc is presumed to have been with a view to 
the invasions which they suffered from the tribes which in- 
habited the Pampas of the Sacramento, and the banks of the 
large rivers which irrigated these immense plains ; and a proof 
of it is that the fortress of Urpis, which is in the interior of the 
mountains, about five leagues from Tuntamayo, on the road by 
Monzon and Ckicoplaya, is the largest, the best situated and 
best constructed of all ; almost the whole is of wrought stone. 

The first castle which was built in this direction, was that 
pf Masor, near Chavinillo, situated on an eminence, the walls 
of which are of micaceous slate mixed with clay. In the 
angles of the large square are certain round sentry-boxes, 
made of the same material, three yards in height, and filled 
with bones ; outside of these are seen round rooms, and 
square, with cupboards ; the lintels are of the same stone. 
There must have been water on this eminence, as there are 
still seen the remains of an aqueduct. 

On the opposite side, and on the other bank of the river, 
are seen two of these castles; the first situated on the point 
of a steep ridge, and the other on the mountain a little above 
it. Between these two are small forts, which have the ap- 



282 peru. 

pearance of steps, and communicate by roads that are very 
plain. 

Following the course of the river in the direction of Chuqui- 
bamba, you pass through the towns of Cagua, Obas, and 
Chupan. All along the road are found the ruins of ancient 
settlements and castles. Near the last there is one with a 
staircase leading to the top, very wide, slightly sloping, and 
well constructed. 

On the chasm of Chacabamba, province of Huamalies, upon 
the river Maranon, and near the royal road of the Incas, by 
which I came from Jauja, following its track, generally nine 
yards in width, are found the ruins of the tambos of the 
Incas, made of small pieces, almost square, of the micaceous 
slate. There still exist in Tambocancha six sentry-boxes, and 
in front of them four others, from four to five yards in height, 
round in part, and having square doors. They are made 
of the same rock spoken of above, with chalky clay ; in the 
interior they are well cemented and form a solid wall, 
divided by large flagging stones ; they are used by the natives 
at the present day to keep their potatoes and corn. The 
whole of the precincts are surrounded by a wall of stone and 
clay, and many human remains are found, as also walls of 
houses, some round, some square. 

In the province of Conchucos-Alto is found the town of 
Ghavin de Huanta, situated on a narrow piece of uneven 
ground, which runs from north to south. Its inhabitants, 
numbering eight hundred, enjoy a mild temperature and 
sulphur waters, which spring from a sandy rock, very near 
the river Marias. The temperature of the water by the ther- 
mometer of Fahrenheit is 112 degrees, the atmosphere being 
at 52°. A few squares from the town are found the remains 
of ancient edifices almost destroyed, and covered with vege- 
table earth. The outer walls are of stone, made of different 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 283 

shapes and laid without any mortar, but in the interior they 
are discovered to be of round stone and clay. 

Being desirous of examining the interior of this castle, I 
entered with several persons who accompanied me through 
an opening rather narrow, and by the aid of lighted candles 
which were constantly extinguished by the multitude of bats 
which flew out very swiftly, with much inconvenience 
and difficulty, we arrived at a passage two yards in width, 
and three in height. The roof of this is made of pieces of 
sand-stone roughly cut, a little more than four yards in 
length. On both sides of this passage are rooms a little 
more than four yards wide roofed with large blocks of sand- 
stone half a yard thick, and from two and a half to three- 
quarters of a yard wide. Its walls are two yards in thickness, 
and contain some apertures which are supposed to have been 
left for the admission of air and light. In the floor of one 
of these is the entrance to a very narrow subterranean way, 
which, we have been informed by some persons who have 
explored it with a light for a considerable distance, leads 
under the river to the opposite bank. From this passage- 
way they have extracted several small idols, vases of stone, 
instruments of copper and silver, and the skeleton of an 
Indian sitting. The direction is from east to west. 

At the distance of a quarter of a league west of the town 
and on the summit of a mountain called Posoc, which signi- 
fies a " thing which is ripe," is found another ruined castle 
which externally presents what seems a mass of rubbish, but 
we are assured that in the interior are found saloons and a 
subterranean way which communicates with the castle men- 
tioned in the last paragraph. It is asserted that a Spaniard 
obtained from it a treasure with which he went to the capital, 
and before dying in the hospital of Lima, gave up a journal 
of his doings, which has passed through many hands. Some 



284 peru. 

persons made an attempt to enter the passage, but were pre- 
vented by the jutting out of a stone which impeded the pas- 
sage. The majority of the houses of Ghavin and its environs 
are constructed over aqueducts. The bridge which must be 
crossed in order to reach the castles is made of three stones of 
wrought granite, each one of which is eight yards in length, 
three-quarters wide, and half a yard thick, all taken from 
these fortresses. In the house of the curate are two figures 
cut in sand-stone ; they are two yards in length, and a half 
in height, are arranged on each side of the street door, and 
were brought from the castle for this purpose. 

Fatigued, and at the same time pleased with my laborious 
investigation, I rested myself upon some blocks of granite 
more than three yards in length, which had engraved upon 
them certain characters or designs which I could not decipher, 
but which were identical with those which I met with at the 
entrance of the subterranean passage near the river. As I sat 
there my imagination rapidly called up all the ancient places 
I had visited, and the great events which took place at the 
time of the conquest. With saddened feelings I lifted my eyes 
toward the ruins of this silent spot, and saw the deplorable 
relics of the depredations committed by our ancient oppressors. 

Three centuries have not been sufficient to efface from 
memory the infinite evils sustained by the peaceable and 
simple inhabitants of the Andes, and even then I almost 
seemed to see the waters of the small torrent dyed with 
the blood of the victims; I could imagine the rubbish 
on the banks to be but heaps of corpses, upon which fanati- 
cism seated itself, and erected its throne to tyranny, and from 
whence it thanked God that it had accomplished the work 
of destruction. 

Carried away by such sad meditations, and compassion- 
ating the unhappy fate of a nation so laborious and wise, I could 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 285 

fancy that I heard from the bottom of the subterranean passage, 
as it were, a voice which said to me : ' Traveller, what motives 
induce you to wander over these silent spots, to remove rub- 
bish, and to tread upon ashes which time has respected, not- 
withstanding men are pleased to depreciate them ? Are not 
the facts furnished by history sufficient to prove to you our 
greatness, simplicity, hospitality, ana love of labor? Per- 
chance, better witnesses of the opulence of our ancestors 
will be found in the remains of monuments that escaped the 
bloody sword of the inhuman conqueror, than can be seen 
in the theft of our wealth, the plunder of our cities, the 
treachery to, and death of our adored Incas, of our wise 
men, and of our nobles ! He who denies the persecutions 
and torments which we endured, the evil which was done 
to our country, to arts and humanity, may as well assert 
that the Sun, our father, does not contribute, with his reviv- 
ing heat, to the development of moving life, and that the 
high and majestic Cordillera does not enclose within its 
bosom the mighty veins of precious metals, which were the 
primal cause of our ruin.' 

The history of the conquest of Peru presents to us nothing 
but sad details of vengeance, of sordid passions, and a pro- 
pensity to destroy all which might illustrate our story to 
future generations ; so that although we have consulted seve- 
ral authors of different epochs, they either repeat what others 
have said, or pass over in silence the most remarkable events; 
and as shortly before the arrival of the Spaniards the Inca 
Huascar perished at the hands of Atahuallpa, and also almost 
all the nobility who, as we have already said, were the only 
ones who were learned in the history of the country and in 
the reading of the Quippos, we are left in complete ignorance 
of the origin of these nations, and of the great conqueror and 
legislator, Manco- Capac. 



286 peru. 

Let us profit by this example: we will strive at least for 
the preservation as far as is possible of the precious relics 
of our ancestors. We will not be accused by future gen- 
erations of indolence, destruction and ignorance. 

Near the present pueblo, La Fortaliza, to the north of the 
gate of Pativillca, are found the ruins of Paramanca. Dr. 
Unanue (Nuevo dia del Peru, Trujillo, 1824), differing in 
opinion from Garcilasso de la Vega, thinks that the edifices 
of Paramanca should not be called fortresses, because their 
construction does not warrant the title ; neither in his opin- 
ion were they erected to perpetuate the pride and pomp of 
Yupanqui and humiliation of Chimu, but simply to preserve 
the memory of both chiefs, the most powerful of Peru, who 
met here, to celebrate the peace and bind more closely their 
friendship; for which reason, one of these edifices is erected 
toward the east, being the most elevated, indicating the dig- 
nity and extension of the empire ; the other toward the 
west, but more humble in appearance, indicating the districts 
of Chimu. 

This interpretation seems to us erroneous. Not only the 
construction of these edifices, which pertains undoubtedly to 
fortifications, but also their situation, is opposed to the opin- 
ion of the learned Unanue. If the larger had betokened the 
empire of the Incas, its direction would have been toward 
the south, and that of the smaller toward the north. The 
only high road the whole length of the coast, leads between 
the two fortified eminences ; by means of them the entrance 
to the kingdom of Chimu might be closed. The Incas knew 
from long experience, that the conquered nations were easily 
excited, and therefore always held themselves in readiness 
against them. Very distrustful might Capac- Yupanqui well 
be of an enemy so fearful and obstinate as Chimu- Oanchu, 
who had only surrendered after a long-continued resistance, 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 287 

and it is very probable that that cautious general caused 
these edifices to be constructed as fortresses, in order to curb 
the nations recently subjugated, and not as monuments of 
victory ; which, according to the custom of the Incas, were 
always erected in the capital of the empire. In the opinion 
of some authors Chimu-Canchu erected these edifices as 
frontier posts, which is very probable, since the king Canchu, 
long before he was attacked by Capac- Yupanqui, was engaged 
in a cruel war with Cuyz Mancu, chief of Pachacamac, and 
Chuquiz Mancu, chief of Runahucmac. In the valley of Para- 
manca, took place the first but indecisive battle between 
Chimu and Capac- Yupanqui. The etymology of the name, 
Paramanca, gives us no clue to the nature of these edifices. 
There are authors who write Parumonga, others Paramanca: 
but in our opinion, Paramanca is the true name. Let us hear 
the words of an author in favor of the opinion we express : 
" At the entrance to Patavillca, on one side, exist the fortresses 
ordered to be constructed by Inca Yupanqui, which sufficient- 
ly mark the extensive knowledge of the Indians in military 
architecture. On a small mountain contiguous to the moun- 
tain of Vendebarato, is seen a quadrilateral fortress, with three 
enclosures of walls commanding the interior : the longer is 
three hundred yards, and the shorter two hundred. Within 
the innermost enclosure are several dwelling-houses, sepa- 
rated by narrow passages and streets. About thirty yards 
from each angle of the inner enclosure are found some bas- 
tions, which flank the curtains. There is also seen on the 
side a high escarpment, facing the sea, in which are three 
semicircular walls, which are called the gallows, and were 
used as a prison for delinquents." 

Toward the south, two leagues from Ghancay, near the 
farm of Ghancaylla, are ruins of subterranean depositories, 
which according to tradition were erected by the Incas during 



288 



PERU. 



the campaign of Capac- Yupanqui, against Chimu, to keep an 
abundant supply of provisions for the army, which counted 
in its three divisions one hundred and twenty thousand men. 

The ruins of Pachacamac, seven leagues from the capital 
of Lima, in the vicinity of the pleasant town of Lurin, are 
very much dilapidated, and present but little interesting 
in their architecture; though they are interesting in their 
extent, and in the particulars of their history. 

On the conical elevation near the bank of the sea, four 
hundred and fifty-eight feet above its level, are found the 
ruins of the ancient temple of Pachacamac. At the foot of 
this hill are seen, at the present day, the decayed walls of 
the edifices which were intended to receive the strangers who 
came on pilgrimage from the most distant provinces of the 
empire, to present their offerings to- the Deity. The whole 
was surrounded by a wall of adobes, nine feet in width, and 
probably of considerable height, for some parts of it are 
twelve feet in height, although in its average extent it is 
not more than four or five. The material throughout the 
whole fabric is not hewn stone, as in the edifices of Cuzco, 
but adobes, easily crumbled. The upper part of the high- 
land or ridge, which is about one hundred feet high, is arti- 
ficially formed by walls, each one thirty- two feet in height, 
and from seven to eight wide. In the most elevated parts is 
seen the temple, with the sanctuary of the Deity on the side 
toward the sea. Its door was of gold, richly inlaid with 
precious stones and coral ; but the interior was obscure and 
dirty, this being the spot chosen by the priests for their 
bloody sacrifices before the idol of wood, placed at the 
bottom of the enclosure, the worship of which succeeded the 
pure and abstract worship of the invisible Pachacamac. At 
present there remain of this temple some niches only, 
which, according to the testimony of Cieca de Leon, con- 



290 PEEU. 

tained representations of several wild beasts; and we 
have detached fragments of paintings of animals, made on 
the wall, upon the whitewashed clay. We can, however, 
still distinguish the place of the sanctuary, according to the 
description of the early chroniclers. The opinion is erro- 
neous which deems these the rains of the temple of the Sun ; 
it is one, however, which has been adopted by almost all 
modern authors, although diametrically opposed to that of 
the historians contemporaneous with the conquest, as well as 
to the account given by Hernando Pizarro, brother of Fran- 
cisco, and destroyer of the temple. 

Outside of this edifice there were in Pachacamac a temple 
of the Sun, a royal palace, and a house of virgins ; monu- 
ments erected by the Incas Pachacutec and Yupanqui. 
According to our investigations, the temple of the Sun . ex- 
tended from the foot of the mountain, on which was situated 
the temple of Pachacamac, toward the north-east ; on the 
side toward the north-west, as far as the lake of sweet water, 
and at the foot of the mountain, from the south-east of the 
temple of Pachacamac, to the house of the chosen virgins. 
The settlement is found all around these edifices from the 
side of the estate of San Pedro, of the deserted San Juan, 
and of the existing town of Lurin, Near the latter we 
notice the ancient cemetery, which attests better than any 
other proof how thickly populated in ancient times was the 
valley of Pachacamac, in the neighborhood of the temple. 
The treasures with which this edifice abounded were such 
that according to one author, the value of the nails only by 
which they affixed to the walls the plates of gold, amounted 
to four thousand marks; which as an insignificant trifle, 
Pizarro gave to his pilot, Quintero. On the haciendas of 
Lome and Nieveria, and on the brow of contiguous moun- 
tains, are seen ruins of vast extent with saloons twenty 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 291 

or twenty-five yards in length, and six or eight in width, of 
mud walls, forming narrow streets ; indicating that here was 
once a large population, and the palaces of their princes or 
other great nobles. 

Some two miles from the shore of the sea, are found the 
small islands known under the names of the Farrallones, 
Santo Domingo and Pachacamac; and in the latter were 
found by us in 1842, vestiges of an edifice of considerable 
extent. These barren islands formed part of the continent 
as promontories, and were separated by the terrible earth- 
quake of 1586, which made such ravages on the Peruvian 
coast. 

The account of Cie^a de Leon is the only one which con- 
tains much relating to New Cuzco, which the Incas caused 
to be constructed in the valley of Huarco, and which was 
connected with the immense fortress of Huarco, built upon a 
high hill, with large square flag-stones, and with a stone 
staircase, descending to the sea.* The same authority in- 
forms us of the temple of Guarivilca in the valley of Jmtja, 
consecrated to the god Ticeviracocha, chief divinity of the 
Huancas ; whose singular worship reminds one of the my- 
thology of the northern countries of Europe. Notwith- 
standing the most scrupulous investigations, it has been 
impossible to find any vestiges of the ruins of this temple. 

Cieca de Leon (Chronicles, Chap. LXXXVIL and Chap. 
LXXXIX.) makes mention, in few words, of the ruins of the 
very ancient and large edifices on the banks of the river 
Vinaqiie near Huamanga, which, according to tradition, were 

* In lower Chincha we are assured was a temple of the Sun in the same 
situation, where at present the convent of Sanlo-Domivgo stands, and in the 
vicinities of the town of Huancay, district of Pisco, even yet may be seen 
the ruins of a so-called palace ; but in truth of a red Tambo, so named from 
its walls having preserved this color. 

J 



292 peru. 

built by bearded white people, who, a long time before the 
reign of the Incas, came to these parts, and made this their 
home ; and also of the edifices of Vilcas built by order of the 
Inca Yupanqui. 

The Chulpas which are seen upon the hill which is bathed 
by the lake of Clustuni, in the department of Puno, present 
a particular construction, and we know not whether they 




HILL OF CLUSTONI AND HATUN-COLLA. 

were dwellings, or served to keep the grain and potatoes ; or 
perhaps they were used as sepulchres, (which seems to us the 
most probable), since they also bore the name of Hiiacas. 
All those which we have examine;! are built of lime or sand- 
stone, mixed with pieces of micaceous slate, with little win- 
dows of one foot in height, and divided in the centre with 
stone slabs, and covered with straw or pieces of stone, similar 
to those of Huamalies.* 

Among the ruins of Hatun-colla are observed remains of 

* There are also to be seen, on the road from Larnpa to Puno, towers of 
similar construction. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



293 



monuments, and it is said that here was the residence of a 
prince, whose palaces and town were covered by the waters 
of the lake, although history is silent as to any such event. 
Here is also found a chair of stone, (a species of lava), with its 
back made of a single piece, which is said to have been the 
throne of the Lord of the place. The Inca Lloque Yupanqui, 
after having subjugated the Canas and Ayahuiris, passed 
without permission to Hatuncolla and Paucarcolla, districts 
governed by Apus or Lords, who nevertheless allowed him 
to construct a temple to the Sun, a house of virgins, and 
royal palaces, distributing among them garments and rich 
cloths. 

We have already spoken of the baths of the Huamalies, 
and of the palace of Limatambo : it now remains to say 
something of the ancient monuments which exist four leagues 
from the bank of the lake of Titicaca; and without doubt, those 
which count more centuries than any other remains of Peru- 
vian antiquity, are th,e ruins of Tiahuanaco,* which, accord- 
ing to history, were erected in one single night, by an invi- 
sible hand. 




r.JINS AT TIAHUANACO STONES ABOUT SEX OR SEVEN TARDS HIGH — PARTLY 

CUT — PARTLY ROUGH — PLACED IN LINES, AT REGULAR DISTANCES. 

* Tiahuanaco signifies in the Quichua language " the resting-place, 
Huanaco," and is a name which, according to tradition, was given to it by 
the Inca Yupanqui, upon the conquest of the nation of Aymara ; on ac- 
count of the swiftness with which his Chasqui or courier ran to the place. 



294 



PERU. 




FRAGMENTS FROM TIAHUANACO. 




ENLARGED VIEW OF MONOLYTHIO GATEWAY IN THE DRAWING ABOVE. 

At the present day these edifices are destroyed, and even 
before the arrival of the Spaniards they were very much 
dilapidated. Indeed, it is probable that they were never 
completed, but remained abandoned in consequence of the 
new worship introduced by the Incas ; since there is no doubt 



PERUVIAN A1STTIQUITIES. 295 

that they went back to an epoch anterior to the estab- 
lishment of the Peruvian dynasty. Most worthy of notice 
among the ruins, are the fragments of the statues of stone, 
of which, says Gieca de Leon, Chap. C. Y. : " In front of this 
hill are two idols of stone, cut in the human form, very ex- 
cellently done, and formed so well, that it seems they must 
have come from the hands of great artificers or masters. 
They are so large that they seem like small giants, and it is 
plain that they have a species of large garment, different from 
that which we now see among the natives of these provinces. 
Their heads seemed to contain their chief ornament." In the 
head of one of these statues, the length, from the point of 
the beard to the upper part of the ornament of the head, is 
three feet and six inches : its greatest width from the ex- 
tremity of the nose to the corresponding part of the occiput 
is two feet and seven inches. It is adorned with a species 
of round cap, one foot seven inches in height, and two feet 
five inches in width. In the upper part are seen certain 
wide and vertical bands ; in the lower are symbolical figures 
with human faces. From the eyes, which are large and 
round, project to the chin two wide bands, each one with 
three double circles. From the outer part of each eye 
descends a band adorned with two squares, one vertical 
rectangle and two horizontal lines, terminating in a serpent, 
similar to that on the monuments. The nose is slightly pro- 
minent, surrounded on the lower side by a wide band semi- 
circular, and terminating toward the inner side of the eyes 
in two corners. The mouth forms a transversal oval, gar- 
nished with sixteen teeth. From the under lip projects, in 
the form of a beard, six bands, toward the edge of the chin. 
The ear is represented by a semilunar figure in a, square, 
and in the fore-part of it is a vertical band with three squares, 
terminating in the head of a wild beast. On the top of the 



296 peru. 

occiput are squares forming bands, and on the neck are dis- 
tinguished many human figures. The sculpture of this head 
is very remarkable, and bears no resemblance whatever to 
what is known of other nations. 

No less worthy of attention is the monolythic doorway 
of stand-stone, sufficiently well preserved, the height of 
which is ten feet, and the width thirteen.* In this block 
is found cut a door, six feet four inches high, ' and three feet 
two inches wide. It presents, on its eastern side, a cornice, 
in the middle of which is observed a human figure somewhat 
similar to those which we have mentioned in the preceding 
paragraph. The head is almost square, and there proceed 
from it several rays, among which are distinguished four 
snakes. The arms are open, and each hand holds a snake 
with a crowned head. The body is covered with an embroid- 
ered garment, and the short feet repose upon a pedestal, also 
ornamented with symbolical figures. On each side of this 
figure is seen in the cornice a certain number of small squares, 
in rows, each one containing a human figure in profile, in the 
position of going, with a species of walking-stick in the hand ; 
those of the middle row differ from those of the upper and 
lower ones. The other ruins present no interesting particu- 
lar, but the great size of the sculptured stones with which 
they are constructed is very remarkable. 

In the year 1846, General Ballivian being President, and 
Don Manuel Guerra, Prefect of la Paz, several excavations 
were made, in order to disinter, or seek for, what was re- 
markable, and all that was found were some idols,f and some 
sculptured masses of large dimensions which have served to 

* Another monolythical door, smaller, seven feet in height, is drawn 
upon the ground. (See the same plate.) 

t An idol of stone whic]i was brought from Tiahuanaco to the city of 
Ja Baz, in the year 1842, is 3£ yards in length, and half a yard in width. 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



297 



make stones for grinding chocolate ; thus destroying monu- 
ments which ought to be preserved as relics of antiquity. 
These large masses were ten yards in length, six in width, 
and of the thickness of more than two yards, and were so cut, 
that, when resting on each other, their junction formed a 
channel between them. There are other masses of stone, in 
the direction of the lake, which have remained in the road 
for reasons which we know not. 




RUIN ON THE ISLAND OF TITICACA, IN LAKE TITICACA; 

On the island of Titicaca, in the lake of the same name, 
where, according to tradition, fell the first rays of the Sun to 
illuminate the world after the deluge, and where the benefi- 
cent orb sent his favorite children, Manco-Capac and Mama 
Ocllo, to civilize the barbarous hordes of Peru, the Incas in- 
troduced a worship to the protecting Deity ; the ruins, though 
not very imposing, are found at the present day well pre- 
served. They are all made of hewn stone, with windows 
and doors, with posts and thresholds of hewn stone also, 
these being wider below than above. 
13* 



298 



PERU. 



The architecture is inferior to that of the ruins of the edi- 
fice more nearly destroyed, in the island of Coati, in the same 
lake ; whether it were a palace or a temple, we cannot de- 
cide. Its interior decorations seem to have been similar to 
those seen at Cuzco. The quantity of offerings of gold and sil- 
ver, piled up in the island, was such, that the traditions of the 
Indians on this point exceed the limits of probability. In 
treating of this subject, Father Bias Valero tells us, such was 
the richness of the temple, that, according to the account of 
the Mitimacos or transplanted Indians who live in Capuca- 
bana, of what remained in gold and silver might have been 
constructed another temple from the foundation to the top, 
and without mixture of any other material ; and also that 
these treasures the Indians threw into the lake, as soon as they 
knew of the arrival of the Spaniards, and their thirst for gold. 
(Garcilasso De La Vega, I. Eoyal Com. Book III. Chap. 
XXV.) 




INTERIOR OF AN APARTMENT IN THE EDIFICE ON THE ISLAND OF COATI, LAKE 

TITICACA. 



In vain have we scanned the writings of all the ancient 
Peruvian Chroniclers, to obtain particulars respecting the for- 
tress and palace of Ollantay-Tambo, ten leagues distant to the 
north of the capital of the empire, and situated in a narrow 
tract on the banks of the river Urubamba. 



PEKUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



299 




GROUND PLAN OP THE TEMPLE REPRESENTED LN THE FRONTISPIECE. 



This strong defence might well have been considered by 
the Incas as very important, not only on account of its im- 
posing position, being as it were the key to the Antis, Pillco- 
patos and Tonos nations, who inhabited, as we know, the 
valleys of Paucartambo and Santana ; but also on account of 
its singular construction, which differed from the edifices of 
Cuzco, and of all other parts of the empire; which in- 
duces us to suppose that it dates its origin from remote 
centuries, and that the prince or lord of this territory was 
independent of, and contemporaneous with the first founder, 
and was not conquered until the latter reigns of the Incas. 

They relate several traditions respecting this personage, 
one of which we have mentioned as forming the subject of 
the drama mentioned in a previous page. Others tell us 
that Ollantay being surprised in the house of the virgins of 
the Sun, a crime punishable with death, the penalty was 
commuted to degradation from his high rank. 

Being after some time restored to his fortress, he rebelled 
against the Inca Yupanqui, who not being able to conquer 
him, notwithstanding the men and time which he sacri- 



300 PERU. 

ficed, adopted a plan suggested by a chief; viz. : that they 
should punish him (the chief) publicly, thereby giving him 
sufficient inducement to pass over to the enemy, and that 
they should be unsuspicious of any stratagem; that once 




THE TOWN AND FORTRESS OF OLLANTAY-TAMBO. 

admitted, he should endeavor to inspire the rebel with con- 
fidence, communicating to him certain secrets and measures 
which they thought of taking, in order to attack him anew ; 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



301 



that by this means the spy should attain a correct knowledge 
of the place, and of the intentions and projects of Ollantay ; 
that finally, upon the anniversary of the birthday of Ollan- 
tay, when they gave themselves up to all sorts of diversions 
and disorders, he should plead to be appointed chief of one 
of the gates, and upon a concerted signal, should open it for 
the entrance of the imperial troops. 




THE WALL WHICH SHUTS IN THE FORTRESS ABOVE, SHOWING ALSO THE GALLERIES 
OR TERRACES WHICH LEAD TO THE TOP OF THE CASTLE, OLLANTAY-TAMBO. 



Such an iniquitous plan having been accepted by the Inca, 
he gave orders for everything requisite to its execution, and 
thus at last, as proposed, they entered the fortress, killing 
and destroying all whom they met in their passage, but were 
unable to take 011antay ; who defended himself with gallantry, 



802 PEKU. 

preferring to cast himself from the steepest part of the rock, 
sooner than give himself up to his enemies. 

The silence which Garcilasso maintains upon this event, the 
little confidence which would be felt in any chief punished 
by the intrepid and sagacious Yupanqui, in order that he 
might gain the fortress, give us cause to suspect, and not 
without reason, that this is a story very much disfigured, 
and that there were other causes for the war which was 
declared. We know that Yahuar-Huaccac, son of Inca Bocca, 
conquered, by order of his father, the provinces beyond the 
Andes, passing over this and other fortified points in his 
march, which is a proof that they were already under the 
dominion of the Incas. 

The fortress is constructed upon a steep eminence. A 
stone staircase leads to terraces, which you pass by narrow 
ways, until you reach the top, where may be seen tables of 
stone more than four yards in height, and set on end. 

A part of this hill or ridge seems to have been made by 
hand, presenting a precipice on the side of the river, into 
which, we are informed, criminals were thrown. Before 
entering the town, which lies at the foot of the fortress, you 
pass through a portal, joined to large walls built of enormous 
masses of hewn stone ; on these walls are seen many sentry- 
boxes, which face the south. 

These relics we believe to be, as we have already said, 
anterior to those of Cuzco. 

Among the many remains of antiquity which even yet 
exist in the city of Cuzco,* we distinguish those of the street 

* Some authors, ancient as well as modern, are accustomed to use the 
article in speaking of the city of Cuzco, without doubt resting on the 
very problematical etymology given by Garcilasso de la Vega, who pre- 
tends that the word Cuzco, in the private language of the Incas, meant 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



303 



of Triunfo, where is seen part of the wall of the ancient 
house of the virgins of the Sun, constructed in a Cyclo- 
pean manner. In it is found a very large stone, known 
under the name of the "stone of the twelve corners," and 
it is in reality so shaped that it presents twelve distinct 
angles. 




In many parts of the city may be seen remains, more or 
less considerable, of ancient walls and other architectural 
monuments. 

Among the most celebrated and interesting of these are 

" navel ;" other authors do not use the article, and in our work we have 
followed their example, as being more correct and conformable to the 
grammatical rules of the Castilian language, although the general use is in 
favor of the article. 

We have also preferred to write Cuzco instead of Cozco, as is done by 
the greater part of the old chroniclers. 



804 PERU. 

the ruins of the supposed palace of Manco-Capac, on the de« 
clivity of the hill of /Sacsahuaman, upon a sort of level, where 
is also found the church of San-Cristoval, which conceals a 
part of these ruins. This extensive edifice, constructed, ac- 
cording to tradition, by the first Inca, had terraces with walls 
three and a half or four yards high, and long in proportion. 
They were reached by a staircase passing through a narrow 
opening, until it came out on an extensive enclosure, the 
wall of which was some yards high, and contained niches or 
cupboards, narrower above than below, but for what purpose 
designed we know not. On this same terrace are seen, even 
at the present day, the remains of edifices which must have 
been large, and of which there is preserved but one window. 
There are also seen the remains of transverse walls laid upon 
terraces. The material of these walls is a dirty white limestone. 
Over the fortress and in front of those interesting relics of 
antiquity are found arranged three crosses as a substitute for 
the banners which in remote centuries floated there, indicat- 
ing the residences of the children of the Sun. These are 
the symbols of Christianity which have taken place of the 
signs and idols of heliacal worship ; and although their 
planting cost immense sacrifices and many victims, the be- 
nign institutions of Christianity, founded upon the word of 
the true God, have scattered rich fruits in the depressed 
minds of this poor nation, and on its pure and humanizing 
worship alone can national prosperity be founded. 

Here concludes our volume, in which, moved by respect 
for the public, to whom we have addressed ourselves, and 
bv our love for Peruvian antiquity, we have spared neither 
time nor fatigue, neither travels, reading, nor experience, nor, 
in one word, anything which might tend to the success of 
our undertaking. We have gathered all the materials 



PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES. 305 

which we have been able to meet with, have classified thqi 
curiosities of all kinds which it has been possible for us to 
collect, and have endeavored to illustrate them by the aid of 
the pencil. 

We have described, under its different aspects, the nation, 
perhaps the most refined in the New World, and certainly 
the most distinguished in character, the most surprising in 
customs and records, the most attractive to an imaginative 
temperament, on account of the medium in which it is, as 
it were, enveloped — a medium misty, and on which the dawn 
is just breaking, showing the effect of the struggle between 
the opening light of civilization and the darkness of ignorance. 
If liberty, the idol of our fathers, was almost unknown to 
the vassals of the Incas, it is also certain that there reigned 
among them almost an equality, a spirit of fraternity, a 
sincere love for their sovereigns, bound to their subjects by 
innumerable and reciprocal benefits, which formed the basis 
of peace and concord, and the link between the monarch 
and the nation. If our forefathers, in the country which we 
adore, were found unable to rival refined Europe in the 
splendor of science, the luxurious display of the arts, and 
superior tactics in war ; we must nevertheless acknowledge 
that as little were they found infested with the leprosy of 
pauperism, the corroding ulcer of prostitution, with the many 
evils which desolate transatlantic countries. Eeligion, policy, 
agriculture formed a whole in those regions, whose inhabi- 
tants fell in hecatombs under the ever-reeking sword of 
insatiable avarice and implacable fanaticism. The policy of 
the Incas had solved many problems which still engage the 
attention of the most vigorous European intellects. 

May this publication arouse from its lethargy Peruvian 
youth, may our disclosures quicken its enthusiasm, and 
make them understand that the very dust they tread on, 



306 PERU. 

palpitated, lived, felt, thought in olden times; that justice 
must be awarded sooner or later to each individual, each 
nation ; that Babylon, Egypt, Greece and Eome are not the 
only empires which serve as food to a generous imagination ; 
that at their feet lies stretched a shipwrecked civilization ; that 
their footsteps are disturbing an archaeological mine, no less rich 
and opulent than the most celebrated mines of gold and silver 
of their own country, and like them, too, scarce covered with a 
light coat of sand ; that a thousand remembered lyrics, and in- 
numerable dramatic scenes, that the wisest political and moral 
counsels ought to bud forth from a world which, though dead, 
yet may be galvanized into life, by study and artistic en- 
thusiasm. Above all, may it communicate its ardor to and 
govern public opinion, that queen of the world, that impetu- 
ous current which should draw into its stream alike governors 
and governed, so that by moral authority, and innumerable 
other resources, they might undertake the gigantic work of 
the regeneration of the past. 

Happy indeed should we esteem ourselves, if our labors 
might be crowned by seeing the wise and the skilful asso- 
ciated under the direction of an intelligent, active and pater- 
nal government, like that of those children of the Sun, the 
Incas ; and under its auspices, Peruvian civilization rising 
from the dust which covers it, as Pompeii and Herculaneum, 
in these latter days, have come forth from the lava which for 
centuries has entombed them. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: iih OQCP 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry TownsNp, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




006 938 774 3 



